news, act-politics

Canberra place names deemed hurtful to people and commemorating figures whose actions are considered abhorrent could disappear from the map, if a Labor MLA succeeds in starting a review. Bec Cody will respond to letters from Indigenous and Jewish community groups, and institutional sex abuse survivors, by pushing for an audit that could bring name changes for suburbs and streets in the national capital. Ms Cody said letters she received had expressed pain that Canberra still named places after people who had acted in ways that were criminal, reprehensible and abhorrent. She declined to identify candidates for name changes, saying she didn't want particular places to become the focus of a community discussion and audit. "There are a few that members of the public have brought to my attention," she said. "I really think the whole community needs to be involved in this broad-ranging discussion." If her motion passes in November, the ACT Legislative Asssembly would ask the territory's place names committee to hold a review and advise on any changes needed, recognising "the ongoing hurt caused in the community by the commemoration of villains as heroes". "I'm a proud Australian and I'm proud enough to be honest about our history," Ms Cody said. "There are some place names in the ACT that by today's standards you would not feel were heroic in any function." Among other states and territories, Tasmania has moved to change names deemed offensive, including Niggerhead Rock, and Suicide Bay and Victory Hill, places with bloody colonial histories. The Northern Territory declared recently it would follow Queensland in renaming a number of landmarks with racist names. In Victoria, the electorate of Batman was renamed following a public campaign to remove its ties to a man accused of involvement in the massacre of Aboriginal people. A debate erupted over the name of Canberra's third, new federal electorate when "Bean" - commemorating Australian war correspondent Charles Bean - emerged as the leading candidate. Australia's electoral commission this year named the seat after him despite more than 70 objections, many of which cited anti-semitic comments he made about General John Monash during World War I. There have also been calls to rename William Slim Drive, named after Australia's 13th governor-general accused of molesting children at Fairbridge Farm in NSW during the 1950s. Ms Cody said some Canberra place names had affected the mental health of people who had written to her office. Her motion will not set a timeframe for the audit and Ms Cody said the conduct of the review would be a matter for the committee. She hoped it would listen to the community if it asked for change. "This is the start of the conversation. I could spend the next 10 years going around to every community group talking about this, but this is a better opportunity to have their say."

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