Page 4999 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 28 November 2018
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To those who congratulated me, thanks, but it is not me who should be congratulated; it is all those people who have campaigned on this issue for many years, often being ignored and sometimes being abused. For your forbearance, your passion, and your patience, thank you. We have heard you and we are making sure we have a good process to advance your point now.
To those who have condemned me, we disagree but that is all right. I have tried to get back to everyone who has contacted me. So many of those who at first suggested that this was an expensive or unnecessary review have come to agree with me that paedophiles and war criminals may not be the best examples of praise in our place names.
To the comedians, many of whom sit opposite, good work. Thanks. You have given me and many others a good chuckle and, by highlighting the issues, advanced the conversation. Even if you do not want me to, I will still endorse the importance of mocking politicians. Perhaps that can be a future MPI.
After listening to everyone’s views over the past month, it is clear that this is a debate we need to have. It is also clear that there is very loud resistance to having this debate in some quarters. Some people do not seem to want sunlight shone on Australia’s history, like snowflakes scared of the sun. I will tell you one thing for free: the conservative commentariat cannot scream loudly enough to scare me or the Labor Party out of our values.
Passing today’s motion will achieve several things. First, it will create a process for fixing past mistakes with place names. We should never be too proud to admit past errors. Second, it will make sure that the place names guidelines and committee are equipped to consider and correct those mistakes. Third, it will encourage community debate about our history and reduce the harms caused by the fantasies of reactionaries. Fourth, it will address particular concerns relating to two places with urgency.
The outcry over William Slim Drive and Haig Park has been ignored for too long. These are non-residential places. We can fix it, and we can fix it now. Not doing so is arrogant, unnecessary and unjustified. Canberra has renamed places before, be that 21 streets in Narrabundah, Blandfordia becoming Forrest, NATEX becoming EPIC, or the many past names of the Tuggeranong Hyperdome, or Hyper D, or South.Point as it is now known. I think last month Mr Parton moved a motion in this very place asking that we review the name of Tharwa Bridge, to be replaced by a very worthy name: Val Jeffery. I have no issue with that but, again, it is an opportunity to review a place name.
Across Australia a movement has grown to correct past naming mistakes. Batman, Denison, and McMillan are no longer electorate names, in recognition of their role in Aboriginal massacres. That process does need substantial consultation and education. I agree with everyone who has pointed out that we should not just go haphazardly changing residential street names. Although I have had a number of constituents contact me asking to rename their streets, it is a lot longer and more difficult process. Any process involving those kinds of changes should involve substantial consultation with residents and businesses, due notice and extensive explanation. That is one of the
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