Hand Cane Cutters

You are welcome to stop in at the Home Hill Showgrounds to see these larger than life statues for yourself. Completed in May 2016, the two Hand Cane Cutter sculptures represent the multicultural history of the Australian sugarcane industry. Indigenous, South Sea Islander and European Australians made an invaluable contribution to the prosperity of our sugarcane growing regions, including the Burdekin, which today produces the most sugar of any region in Australia. With funding for the project obtained through the Federal Government’s Indigenous Language and Arts Program, the local Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation’s indigenous artists were mentored by Dr Farvardin Daliri OAM in designing, constructing and painting the sculptures. The sculptures are 3.5 metres high and 20 tonnes heavy and are made from steel and cement. At the Home Hill Showgrounds, the Australian Hand Cane Cutting Championships is now held biennial, where this skill of a bygone era is brought back to life. These beautifully crafted statues face the paddock where the Championships take place.