The 2012 award-winning painting depicted Port Arthur and included a representation of Martin Bryant holding a gun. The award received criticism. A former police officer who attended the scene of the Port Arthur Massacre described the work as insensitive and outrageous. The CEO of the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority was reported as stating that depictions of the massacre were unhelpful to those it affected. Pople addressed the criticism, arguing that the depiction of Byant was a reminder of the brutality of the Port Arthur Prison Colony within a green "surreal beauty" landscape.