The Victorian government last week rejected a push to change the name of the Yarra River to Birrarung.
The Yarra River Business Association put forward the Wurundjeri name to honour the river’s indigenous history – before Acting Premier James Merlino dismissed the idea.
But the waterway is not the only landmark to have been targeted by activists recently.
Since last year there have been attempts to change the names of an island, a motorway and even Tasmania’s capital city.
Hobart
In May 2018, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre proposed that Hobart also be given the name nipaluna, which is what Indigenous people called the land the city is on.
Heather Sculthorpe from the TAC said that a local leader named Wurati first shared the name with conciliator George Augustus Robinson.
In May 2018 the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre proposed that Hobart (pictured) also be given the name Nipaluna, which is what Indigenous people called the land the city is on
‘Wurati gave it to Robinson on the 16th of January 1831, and Robinson records that in conversation with the natives’ Ms Sculthorpe told the ABC.
‘And later on in that same year, on 11 July 1831, Wurati gave more details that this was the name of this area and how people had watched the ships come in overlooking this area.
‘So we have dates, we have times, we have speakers and we know it’s right.’
Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said this year the city council has still not ruled out the idea but wants to develop its Reconciliation Action Plan before committing.
She suggested it was more likely that certain places around the city would be renamed, such as Franklin Square which she wanted to call Truganini Place after the last surviving full-blooded Aboriginal Tasmanian.
Sterling Highway
In August this year Perth activist Emily Egerton-Warburton started a petition to change the name of Sterling Highway.
She wrote in the change.org petition: ‘In 1834, James Stirling lead the Pinjarra Massacre, killing and traumatising the Binjareb language group. In today’s terms this would be considered genocide.
‘Our Indigenous Elders can find a more suitable name for Stirling Highway, one which embraces life, has some poetry and is connected to country.
In August this year Perth activist Emily Egerton-Warburton started a petition to change the name of Sterling Highway (pictured)
‘It’s time to live in right relation with Indigenous people. Let’s learn some of their language!
She then suggested how it should renamed, writing: ‘The Waardungmaat (the crow) is a better name.’
The petition fell flat after only receiving 129 signatures.
Moreton Island
Moreton Island off Brisbane could soon be named Mulgumpin under a native title settlement.
The Quandamooka people, who inhabited the land before European colonisation, have been negotiating with the Queensland government for four years over their native title rights and interests over land and waters.
Moreton Island (pictured) off Brisbane could soon be named Mulgumpin under a native title settlement
Earlier this month the two parties agreed terms that would establish native title over 98 per cent of the island – and a federal court will make a determination in November.
In the settlement is a Land Use Agreements, which proposes to rename Moreton Island National Park as ‘Gheebelum Coonungai National Park.
Cameron Costello, chief executive of the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation, said he was ‘absolutely ecstatic’ about the agreement.
Yarra River
This month the Yarra River Business Association put forward the named Birrarung for the waterway.
The river, which runs for 11km through the heart of the Victorian capital, is known as the Birrarung in the Boon Wurrung and Woiwurrung languages.
The word means ‘river of mists’ and is a significant place of shared Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal history and cultural values.
The Yarra River runs for 11km along river edges and urban settings in the heart of Melbourne
City of Melbourne Council said it would look to consult Aboriginal groups about the suggested name change, which was one of several recommendations as part of a ‘City River Strategy’.
‘We did this with Uluru, so why not the Yarra?’ Melbourne Water’s Kate Nagato said.
Transport and city planning associate Mark Rowland said the council received several recommendations to change the name of the river.
He said the government established a the Birrarung statutory body in 2018, which already refers more to Birrarung than the Yarra River.
On Thursday, however, Acting Premier James Merlino said he did not support a name change.
Birrarung means ‘river of mists’ and is a significant place of shared Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal history and cultural values