'I'm watching you': Debate over why kangaroo on Perth GPO's coat of arms looks over its shoulder
/ By Emma WynneWhile the vandalised Australian coat of arms on the Perth GPO building has been restored, attention has now focused to why its kangaroo is looking over its shoulder.
The restored coat of arms returned to the building in January this year, following an attack by vandals which broke several of the animals' heads off.
The incident then led to debate about whether the kangaroo's turned head was intended to look angry or respectful.
Heritage Perth chief executive Richard Offen told 720 ABC Perth there were a number of theories of why it looked a bit different from other coats of arms across Australian buildings.
"On the Australian coat of arms the kangaroo and the emu normally face into the shield in the middle, but on the Perth GPO the kangaroo is looking over its right shoulder," Mr Offen said.
"The General Post Office in Forrest Place was officially opened in 1923 after around nine years of protracted construction, World War I having halted completion of the building.
"Its total cost was £400,000, a huge amount at the time.
"The old story is that the sculptor hasn't been paid and the kangaroo is looking towards the treasury building in the city accusingly."
Another theory has been suggested by the alterative history website Dodgy Perth.
"The author of Dodgy Perth very much doubts the sculptor would have made coat of arms knowing in advance they wouldn't get paid," Mr Offen explained.
"The clue to the real answer comes from the Old Parliament building in Canberra, where the coat of arms also has kangaroo with its head turned around.
"The reason in Canberra was simple — the emu was looking at the royal coat of arms, so the kangaroo has to as well, as a mark of respect."
The Perth GPO also has a royal coat of arms, which sits on the opposite side of the building.
Mr Offen suggested that perhaps the contractor in 1923 simply placed the two coats of arms the wrong way around, meaning that the animals are looking away from the direction they should be.
720 ABC Perth Breakfast listener Barry said, according his family legend, that explanation is not correct.
"My paternal grandfather had a connection with whole affair and said the contractor wasn't afraid of not being paid whilst it was in preparation for casting but became concerned a little later, during the final preparations," Barry said.
"The payment, or suspected non-payment, of the tendered work became clearer and was tied to a number on contractor short payments in the government's efforts to rein in costs of the building.
"Hence the turned head was a warning: 'I am watching you.'
"It wasn't picked up as an error at the time of handover and was explained by the contractor some years later at a family gathering."
The truth may never be known, but both coats of arms have now been fully restored and replaced on the GPO building.