A Bondi Beach mural which criticises Australia’s asylum seeker processing system appears was defaced overnight, hours after artist Luke Cornish said the local council narrowly voted to keep it on the Bondi Sea Wall.
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New images shared on social media show the Not Welcome To Bondi mural covered with thick brushes of paint.
The new paint obscures the mural’s 24 armed Border Force personnel, who Cornish says represents the 24 people who have died by suicide in Australia’s offshore processing system since 2010.
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It is not yet clear who painted over the artwork.
The apparent vandalism comes after Cornish took to social media to celebrate the Waverley Council’s decision to maintain the political artwork.
On its website, the Waverley Council says the Bondi Sea Wall has carried “a mix of street and contemporary art with strong social and political messages throughout the decades.”
The Waverley Council application form requires artists to describe the proposed content of their work before they are granted permission.
“Each panel on the Sea Wall is allocated for a six month time period,” the council states. Cornish’s work first appeared on the sea wall in late July.
More to come.
