Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Even when you see this monstrosity, you cannot believe it. It has made the township of Barcaldine a laughing stock—and it deserves to be so, as the local council played along with this myth. The architect, and moreover those who approved the design, must have been hallucinating. The much maligned ‘Big Peanut’ from the City of Cairns has more appeal and artistic merit.

So far we have the local council, the Premier of the state, a federal minister, the Labor Party and its historians all playing along with this game, at taxpayers’ expense. But the charade is also joined by a peak body and keeper of our historic and most treasured sites, the Australian Heritage Council. It might surprise if not shock people to know that the so-called Tree of Knowledge was placed on the National Heritage List in 2006. It was listed along with the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Exhibition Building, Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Melbourne Cricket Ground and so on—great icons.