‘It’s not about where you were conceived’: how a giant Chiko Roll reignited a feud among Australian towns
A 73-year-old feud plagues Bendigo, Wagga Wagga and Bathurst. It strains diplomatic ties, haunts their politicians and at times brings their very sense of identity into question.
Who gets to claim rightful ownership of the Chiko Roll?
Now, a giant golden sculpture paying tribute to the savoury snack has reignited the war.
Artist Chris Roe likes to play on history and Australian icons with his pop art, and his two-metre tall Chiko Roll is among a series of apocalyptic paintings on display at his Rogue Thoughts exhibit in Wagga Wagga until the end of the week.
“I came up with this idea of doing a giant Chiko Roll because Wagga claims to be the birthplace and, weirdly, it is a part of our story,” he says.
But it is part of Bendigo’s and Bathurst’s stories too.
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A boilermaker from Bendigo, Frank McEncroe, launched the Chiko Roll at the Wagga Wagga Show in 1951. Encased in a thick, deep-fried skin of pastry, the cabbage, barley, vegetable and beef-filled creation spread in popularity across Australia.
More than seven decades later, Bathurst is challenging Wagga and Bendigo’s claim to the Chiko legacy.
“I think it is generally accepted everywhere outside of Wagga and Bendigo that the home of the Chiko Roll is in Bathurst,” says the federal member for Calare, Andrew Gee.
A sign at the Simplot factory in Bathurst, where the snack is now manufactured, does indeed declare it to be “the home of the Chiko Roll”.
“I admire Chris’s artistry. I admire his commitment to this Australian icon … but the giant Chiko Roll really needs to make the journey home,” Gee says.
But former deputy prime minister Michael McCormack, the Wagga-based member for the Riverina, dismisses Bathurst’s case as “rubbish”.
“Sure, Frank McEncroe thought it up in Bendigo. Yes, it is now manufactured and processed at Bathurst. But its home is Wagga Wagga,” McCormack says.
“It’s not about where you were conceived – most people wouldn’t even know where they were conceived – and it’s not about where you end up. It’s about where you were born. That is what is on your birth certificate.”
According to McCormack, “the
Chiko Roll was born here”.
“Bathurst can borrow it but they can’t have it, because it belongs to Wagga Wagga.”
Described as “a giant phallus,” Roe’s 2m-tall Chiko Roll is built around two inflatable punching bags, covered by a layer of felt with purposely placed wrinkles “so it gets that Chiko-texture,” then painted with several layers of liquid latex.
The Chiko wrapping was printed on to banners, which Roe Photoshopped to include Chinese script “paying homage to the fact the [Chiko Roll] is essentially cultural appropriation, taking a spring roll and making it our own”.
Roe has declared Wagga Wagga his sculpture’s home. Bathurst, where the Chiko Roll is now made, “doesn’t really have anything to prove,” he says.
Bendigo, where the McEncroe family remain, is “quite comfortable with their history as a point of origin”. But for Wagga, “we seem to be clinging desperately to the idea of this Australian
icon belonging to our town”.
He is, however, willing to extend an olive branch and tour his giant Chiko Roll to the warring cities.
The feud is “a very Australian thing to get upset about”, Roe says.
“Australia likes to boast about things, and we love big things,” he adds – notably the Big Prawn and Big Banana.
“It says something about Australia’s view of itself, and the way we put ourselves down and are just a little bit uncomfortable with our identity,” Roe says. “So I like the fact we can sort of play up on that debate through an artwork.”
• This article was amended on 25 April 2024. An earlier version misspelled the last name of Frank McEncroe as “McEnroe”.