If I remember rightly the artist originally painted the mural at his own expense and the council considered painting over it. This is also the council that banned employees from uttering the words "Australia Day".
Don't get me wrong, I like the murals under the Swan street bridge, but FFS can these muppets just concentrate on the doing stuff like fixing the crappy roads around Richmond, collecting the garbage and cleaning up the graffiti. Symptomatic of local government in Victoria.
Ahhh that's better - Rant Over!