– City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Samantha McIntosh
The City of Ballarat is committed to continuing the legacy of the nationally significant Prime Ministers’ Avenue located within the Ballarat Botanic Gardens. The Avenue is a significant tourist drawcard for Ballarat and is a vitally important part of our city and to the Ballarat community.
Previous busts have been funded by the bequest of Richard Crouch, a former Federal politician, barrister, and Commander of the 22nd Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force during the Great War. During his two terms in parliament, Crouch served under six different Prime Ministers, two of whom came from Ballarat – Alfred Deakin and James Scullin.
This trust was used in its entirety after the commission of the bust of Honourable Julia Gillard MP and the City of Ballarat now allocates funds through its limited Public Arts program for the continuation of this proud tradition. These allocated funds were used for the most recent bust added, former Prime Minister, the Honourable Tony Abbott MP in 2017.
The cost of each bust is in the vicinity of $30,000.
City of Ballarat welcomes any assistance, including from the Federal Government, to fund this important and iconic project. There has been interest from members of the community to fund busts in the future and the City of Ballarat is open to exploring this possibility.
The bust for Australia’s 29th Prime Minister, the Honourable Malcolm Turnbull MP, has been commissioned using funding from City of Ballarat’s Public Arts program and is currently being created by artist Linda Klarfield.
Each bust is commissioned when the Prime Minister has left office and as such, no funding has been allocated for current Prime Minister, the Honourable Scott Morrison MP.
