For years I’ve been raking my brain trying to think of a tourist attraction that will put our area on the map.
About 20 years ago I got a little excited when Campbelltown Council considered a suggestion to build a statue of Fisher’s ghost.
It got nowhere, but I just kept dreaming about an attraction that would have tourists from around the country and the world queueing up to see it.
Imagine the business it would bring to Campbelltown, Macarthur and the entire south west region.
Yes, you guessed it, I have another idea and I am about to share it with you, for better or worse.
It’s very simple: do our own Mt Rushmore right here.
Forget for a moment small issues such as which four Prime Ministers would be chosen, who will pay for the monument or where indeed it will be located.
The point is would it be something people would come from miles away to see?
The answer I would humbly suggest is “yes’’.
That’s all that matters at this stage, unless someone among our readers has a better suggestion.
As to which four PMs should be up on such a grand monument, a poll could be held.
If it was my decision these are the four I would go for:
Edmund Barton, because he was our first Prime Minister;
John Curtin, who embraced America during World War II in order to save the nation from attack;
Robert Menzies, because he was the longest serving PM of all time and probably always will be;
Bob Hawke, because along with treasurer Paul Keating transformed the economy to secure the country’s standard of living for decades.
For the record, the original Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of Keystone, South Dakota contains the sculpture of four American presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
More than three million tourists visit the site every year – we’d be happy with 30,000.
