News that a Captain Cook statue was vandalised on Australia Day eve is, sadly, hardly surprising.

The St Kilda sculpture of the great explorer was sawn off at the ankles and the mount on which the statue sat was graffitied with the words ‘the colony will fall’ in red paint.

Who the culprits were is anyone’s guess.

When it comes to haters of Western Civilisation, we are spoilt for choice.

Was it a Greens voter? What is an ALP voter? We will never really be certain as both political parties, disgracefully, have either promoted anti-Western sentiment or have encouraged it.

The Prime Minister needs to understand that his continual undermining of Australia Day and his party’s stubborn refusal to put the Australian flag front and centre has consequences. His refusal to celebrate European settlement and all the benefits it brought is a wink to those who hate this country, it has given them permission to trash our history, deface public property, and worse.

Perhaps it was a climate change activist? A pro-lockdown activist? Or someone inspired by the Blak Sovereignty movement? I know what you’re thinking. It’s highly possible that those responsible were a toxic brew of all three – especially in the socialist state of Melbourne where Western Civilisation-hating, anti-Australian, Co2-phobes are all too common.

The vandals may well have been from the ranks of the growing unemployed. Then again, they could well have been highly-paid academics from one of our many left-leaning universities.

The sad fact is that, while the number of people who love this country far exceeds those who do not, the haters are well-organised, well-supported, very vocal, and growing increasingly emboldened.

The vandals are historically illiterate – Captain James Cook wasn’t even alive when the First Fleet arrived in Botany Bay. But that doesn’t worry them.

The vandals are hypocritical – enjoying the prosperity European settlement provided whilst undermining it at the same time. But they don’t care.

The vandals are not just those who cut down the St Kilda statue. The true vandals are the cultural wreckers in the Parliament, in the universities, in corporate offices, sporting bodies, and supermarket chains.

Those who felled the statue must have the book thrown at them.

Those who would destroy our national day must be continually boycotted.

Those who hide our flag, talk down European settlement, and promote a black armband view of our history must be voted out of office.

Ours is a wonderful nation, enjoying prosperity and freedom unmatched throughout most of human history. And none of it was by accident. The arrival of the Brits, with their Judeo-Christian ethic, enhanced over the years by millions of migrants who worked hard to build this nation, has created a country that is the envy of the world. Or at least, it was.

Only when the vandals are dealt with – all of them – will our nation be great again.

Yours in commonsense,

Senator Ralph Babet, United Australia Party