Published: The Mercury 8th October 2025
Hobart’s heritage is both fragile and irreplaceable. In recent months, two incidents have highlighted just how vulnerable our most cherished public places are: the theft of bronze plaques from Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue, on the Queens Domain, and the damage inflicted on Kelly’s Steps, in Battery Point, by e-scooters.
Neither incident alone may seem catastrophic. But together, they reveal an uncomfortable truth: we are failing to protect the physical reminders of our history, and in doing so, risk weakening our shared identity.
Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue is not just a walking track shaded by trees. Each plaque along its path represents a Tasmanian who never returned from World War I. For families, these markers serve as gravestones for men buried in foreign soil. For the community, they are tangible reminders of sacrifice, resilience and loss.
At the time, Friends of Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue president John Wadsley expressed his disgust at the desecration. “We are appalled that anyone would consider stealing, removing, or destroying these memorial plaques,” Wadsley said. “They represent the loss that families in Hobart suffered and the love they had for someone who died on the other side of the world.”
The stolen plaques were eventually recovered, but their restoration will cost well over $10,000. The Friends of Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue are contributing $3000, while the City of Hobart is allocating $9000 toward repairs. The greater cost, however, is moral: the knowledge that anyone could desecrate a place designed for solemn reflection.
If Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue connects us to the tragedies of war, Kelly’s Steps connects us to the foundations of Hobart itself. Cut into the stone cliffs of Battery Point in the 1830s, the steps have carried generations of workers, families and visitors between Salamanca and the hilltop suburb. They are not just stone stairs; they are part of the city’s fabric.
Yet today, e-scooters are ridden down the steps, chipping at the sandstone and eroding the structure. Complaints also cite vomit, urine and litter, signs of a site left without adequate oversight or respect.
The physical damage may be slow and incremental, but it is real. Without intervention, Kelly’s Steps risk deteriorating beyond easy repair.
Stolen plaques and damaged steps may seem unrelated, but both reveal the same problem: a lack of respect for heritage.
Heritage sites depend not just on government rules or council budgets but on public regard. They survive when people collectively value them, seeing themselves as custodians rather than mere users of public space.
So, what can be done? Stronger enforcement is one option. Fines, clearer signage and physical barriers could deter e-scooters from Kelly’s Steps. CCTV or patrols might discourage theft or vandalism on Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue. But enforcement alone won’t solve the problem.
We also need education and community involvement. Heritage belongs to all of us and protecting it is everyone’s responsibility.
Funding is also crucial. Restoration costs money, whether to recast a plaque or repair worn sandstone. That funding should not fall solely on councils with already stretched budgets. State government support and private sponsorship could help fill the gap.
Hobart is a city caught between the past and future. We want modern convenience, shared mobility, accessible transport and lively public spaces. But we also want to preserve what makes our city unique, the history embedded in our memorials, stairs and streetscapes.
Finding that balance is not easy. Yet allowing our heritage to be chipped away, one plaque or one sandstone step at a time, is not an option. Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue and Kelly’s Steps are reminders of sacrifice, endurance, and the generations who came before us.
Protecting them is not nostalgia. It is respect. If Hobart wants to remain a city with a soul, our heritage cannot be left to chance.
Edwin Johnstone is the chair of the Confederation of Greater Hobart Business and an advocate for the Hobart community.
