paul mallett advocates for building the Statue of Equity and establishing People’s Park as the city’s central gathering ground.

Imagine a monument created not to honour a single figure, but to honour the idea that everyone matters. The Statue of Equity stands at the heart of Launceston as a living symbol of fairness and welcome. Its form lifts upward, shaped by stone from across the island. Its surface carries art, poems, civic messages, and shared memories through responsive digital panels. Inside, a climbable interior invites children and young people to explore, making participation part of the design.

At its base, People’s Park offers space for up to fifteen thousand people. It becomes our common ground for vigils, festivals, citizenship ceremonies, concerts, rallies, quiet lunches, kite days, and daily rest. A place where Launceston gathers, celebrates, mourns, listens, and learns.

The most moving feature is simple. Each time a baby is born in Launceston, a warm amber light rises through the statue and a gentle chime carries across the park. One more life. One more promise. A reminder that the wellbeing of our children is the wellbeing of our city.

The aim is clear: a physical expression of fairness and belonging, built for the people who live here. A landmark that restores trust, strengthens civic pride, and signals to every resident and visitor that kindness has a home in Launceston.

Let’s build the Statue of Equity. Let’s make welcome visible. Let’s include:

1. Hands-On Monument, Not Hands-Off

Design the monument as an active, climbable public structure rather than a distant pedestal.
• Build an internal climbing facility with routes that change over time.
• Turn the monument into a daily space for movement, play, and community pride.
• Reinforce the principle that civic symbols should invite participation, not separation.

2. Civic Ritual of Welcome

Introduce a gentle, citywide ritual marking key life and civic moments.
• Use a birth chime and soft light rising from base to summit to acknowledge new citizens and milestones.
• Create a low-key expression of belonging and dignity that unites residents without spectacle or cost.
• Make civic welcome visible, audible, and woven into everyday life.

3. Programmable AI Facade

Install smart panels capable of displaying GrowthLoops, community events, learning modules, art, and memorials.
• Create a living, adaptable gallery that tells community stories.
• Reduce reliance on external pop-up screens or temporary hires by providing flexible, inbuilt programming capacity.
• Support cultural expression, education, and commemoration in a public, inclusive way.

4. Place Truth Materials

Construct the base of the monument using stone quarried from across Tasmania.
• Embed geography into identity and ensure the foundation literally carries the story of the island.
• Reinforce the shared “we” that underpins civic belonging.
• Build a monument grounded in place, history, and truth.

5. View as Public Good

Provide a fully accessible 360-degree summit platform.
• Invite residents back into relationship with their river, hills, and skyline.
• Boost local pride and increase visitor dwell time.
• Treat views not as a premium commodity but as a shared civic asset.

6. Always-Open Identity

Frame the monument around a principle — equity — rather than a personality or political figure.
• Avoid culture wars and factional ownership.
• Anchor civic pride in fairness, openness, and shared values.
• Ensure the symbol is timeless, unifying, and safe for all communities.

7. Purpose-Built Civic Venue at the Base

Develop an amphitheatre-style People’s Park capable of safely hosting 15,000+ people.
• Provide an inclusive, dedicated space for civic gatherings, celebrations, and public discourse.
• Reduce reliance on ad hoc street closures or unsuitable indoor halls.
• Design for accessibility, shade, acoustics, and year-round use.

8. Multi-Use Design for Dissent and Celebration

Equip the site with built-in infrastructure for concerts, protests, vigils, citizenship ceremonies, festivals, carols, and cultural events.
• Ensure the location supports both free expression and shared celebration.
• Provide power, staging, amenities, and flexible spaces that adapt to different civic purposes.
• Make the site the city’s central public forum — a place for every voice.

9. Accessible and Safe by Design

Use terraced seating, shade structures, open acoustics, and best-practice crowd movement systems.
• Make large gatherings feel safe, comfortable, and well-managed.
• Reinforce trust in public space through intentional design.
• Ensure full accessibility for people of all ages and abilities.

10. Symbol Plus Space

Combine the monument with the gathering ground beneath it.
• Translate equity from abstract value to lived experience as people meet, celebrate, deliberate, and relax under the symbol itself.
• Root civic identity in both the place and the principle it represents.
• Make the landmark a functional part of everyday belonging, not merely an object to look at.