Melbourne’s oldest public monument is on the move again — but its long-awaited return will cost the city five parking spaces, strip the explorers of their preferred northern outlook, and require a site shift to dodge an active sewer main.
On Tuesday, August 18, the Future Melbourne Committee will vote on the final design layout to permanently install the 1865 Burke and Wills monument at Exhibition Street Reserve.
Newly released council reports reveal that planners had to abandon their initial preferred location on the prominent corner of Exhibition and Victoria streets.
An investigation discovered that a major municipal sewer line bisects the corner garden bed and cannot be built over.
To avoid the pipe, officials shifted the monument’s proposed site to the reserve’s internal edge.
This shift, however, requires the permanent removal of five car parking spaces along the Exhibition St slip road to create a paved plaza around the monument.
While council officers acknowledged potential community opposition to losing the parking, they argued the area has low occupancy and that the slip-road plaza is the most cost-effective option, allowing visitors to safely walk around the multi-ton monument.
The final design also compromises on a key historical request.
The Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) — the original 1860 expedition sponsor located directly across the street — requested that the statues of Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills face due north toward their destination of the Gulf of Carpentaria.
However, transport planners blocked the request, ruling that facing the explorers north would severely reduce sightlines for passing motorists and pedestrians.
Instead, the bronze plaque will face the footpath, with on-site visual elements added to help visitors orient themselves toward the historic northern route.
Despite the layout adjustments and the monument’s relocation away from its original City Square home, the project aims to tell a “fuller, more honest story”.
“After years in storage, the Burke and Wills monument has finally found a new home – with plans to display the statue at Exhibition Street Reserve,” said Lord Mayor Nick Reece.
“This is a fitting place for the explorers – sitting opposite the Royal Society of Victoria, who in 1860 were the sponsors of the ill-fated expedition.”
The council is collaborating with the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Corporation to install new on-site signage.
The interpretation will acknowledge the care and compassion of the Yandruwandha people, who kept John King — the expedition’s sole survivor — alive in the harsh Australian interior.
To protect the restored monument, the city is also investigating security measures to mitigate the risk of graffiti and vandalism.
The statue has previously been a flashpoint for political protest, most notably on the eve of Australia Day in 2018 when it was splattered with green paint and had the word “stolen” scrawled across its pedestal.
To prevent a repeat of such incidents, the council is currently assessing the installation of security cameras at the reserve.
“With around 40,000 people passing by the reserve each day, Exhibition Street Reserve is a prominent and accessible place,” said Creative Melbourne portfolio head Councillor Philip Le Liu.
The unbudgeted capital works are expected to be funded through a negotiated $40,000 state government settlement received “in lieu” of returning the statue to City Square.
If approved on Tuesday, the monument is scheduled for installation in early 2027.
Opposition MP David Davis, a long-time advocate for the statue’s return to City Square, labelled the latest move a “third choice location”.
“Unsatisfactory and largely a pedestrian backwater,” he told the Herald Sun
“It should have been placed back in the City Square as originally intended rather than buckling to political forces who want this important colonial statue banished to the boondocks.”