Instagram · Post · 23 April 2026
🍢 The Ore Obelisk
I've taken some time to digest the deputations from Tuesday in our City's chambers regarding public art, especially those concerning the 'Kebab'. Today, I want to share some thoughts. Not hard data this time, but my subjective opinion on this item.
I won't pretend I'm old enough to reminisce about when our State hit 1 million people, the milestone this monument was built to celebrate. I won't even claim to remember when we hit 2 million. But as we cross that 3 million mark, it is a fitting time to reflect on the physical monuments around us, whether it's the Cactus, a mural, or the Ore Obelisk.
These monuments mark their place in our long river of history. They confer meaning and carry memories unique to every single one of us. They are non-transferable, cannot be recreated, are not renewable, and they deserve to be preserved.
They anchor us to a physical place and a sense of belonging. They act as a constant reminder that we are creatures of flesh and blood, existing for but a blip in time, standing in places where many have walked before us, and surely many will after.
These are elements a digital representation can never replace.
I grew up in the infancy of the digital age. I remember using floppy disks to save my homework, burning MP3s from Limewire onto CDs, I can still mimic the sound of a dial-up modem. But I know that a monument marking our State's millionth resident should stay rooted in soil, not pixels.
The proposal before council this month to merely "digitize" the Kebab is, for all intents and purposes, ridiculous. While I acknowledge the easy path may be attractive at a time when the administration's capacity is low, this is not the time to take it.
Given it has been more or less dismantled beyond repair by this stage, I'm not going to demand a full structural restoration. But we must give these stones the respect they deserve through proper, physical commemorative efforts. They may look like fractured ores and rocks to some, but they carry meaning and memories for many who grew up around them. For them, and for us, what remains of the Kebab deserves to be preserved.