Tony Abbott Same-Sex Marriage Mural Painted Over After Eight Years

The iconic Sydney mural of Tony Abbott marrying himself has been painted over, almost a decade after it was originally created.

Artist Scott Marsh painted the mural in Redfern over three days in 2017, after the former prime minister encouraged Australians to use their vote in the same-sex marriage postal survey to “protect the family”.

Marsh wasn’t informed that the mural would be removed. It wasn’t until locals began sending him photos of the freshly painted grey wall in its place that he discovered it was gone.

“It’s a shame it’s gone,” Mash told Star Observer. “It survived 8 years, making it one of my longest-standing murals, and become [it’s] a bit of a landmark on Redfern Street.”

“I’m hoping to get in contact with the property owners soon to see if I can repaint the space with some new.”

Speaking to Hack in her capacity as a City of Sydney Councillor at the time, Abbott’s sister, Christine Forster, said there was no doubt it was a “striking artwork”.

“I don’t think that Tony would be upset about it. He’s got a very thick skin. It’s a satirical piece Good on the artist for putting it up there. It’s in my electorate in the City of Sydney and the City of Sydney is very keen to promote street art.

“I had to double take to look at the bride, I have to say. I think it’s a good piece, of course public art is subjective.”

No stranger to a bit of controversy

Marsh has painted a number of political murals around Sydney, including one of George Pell in handcuffs near St Mary’s Cathedral following his conviction for child sexual abuse, although it was quickly painted over after members of the public objected.

He also was responsible for the Chippendale mural of Alan Jones with a ball gag in his mouth, which he painted after the shock jock said that  Scott Morrison should “shove a sock down” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s throat at a Pacific leaders forum in Tuvalu.

Talking to the Star Observer in 2019, Marsh said that the support from Sydney’s LGBTQIA+ community had made a real difference to his motivations for the work.

“When I painted a number of murals around the same-sex marriage postal survey, I had a lot of blowback from religious groups that at times got pretty intense,” he said.

“Having members of the LGBTIQ community rally around my work with kind messages definitely hit me in the feels, and really encouraged me to keep creating murals.”