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They named it Monash

22/6/2018

16 Comments

 
Picture
John Monash is honoured by a university, a freeway, a scholarship, a $100 million war memorial in France, a bank note and now our federal electorate.
With Monash trumping Bunjileene-Purrine as the new name for our federal electorate, we must find other ways to honour indigenous culture and people, writes Marg Lynn.
By Marg Lynn
 
SOMETIMES, it seems, the umpire gets it wrong. We can fume and protest. But in the end, the decision is made and we get on with it.
 
The umpire this time is the Victorian Redistributions Committee who have produced their final report with, for us, the excellent outcome of expunging McMillan’s name. Then there was the devastating follow-up of giving us the name of Monash. Monash is an honourable name, in memory of an honourable man, but it is not the name we wanted.
 
Bunjileene-Purrine was the name chosen by the Aboriginal Naming Committee, formed by Gunnaikurnai and Bunurong people coming together. It was a wonderful process with a truly authentic result. Their hyphenated name was offered as a gesture of reconciliation, as a wish for us whitefellas to understand, and a means of claiming back some of their history.
 
For us it would have been an acceptance of that reconciliatory overture, some recognition of what we have done, and a giving up of a little bit of power.
 
The Bass Coast South Gippsland Reconciliation Group and other contributors to the campaign, such as Geoff Ellis, argued that we could no longer live in an electorate named after a murderer of hundreds of men, women and children. We won that round. The Redistributions Committee was persuaded.
 
We went on to argue that social justice required that those whose dispossession started in the age of McMillan deserved redress. Naming rights over who replaced the man responsible for the deaths, displacement, and by implication, disease and destruction of culture, was a small concession in the scheme of things.
 
When that didn’t win, and the interim report suggested Monash would get the prize, we argued further that a reconciled Australia, which is a national goal, involves all Australians valuing and recognising the richness and diversity of Aboriginal cultures that constitute the longest living continuous cultures in the world.
 
We also ran arguments about Monash not suffering from under-exposure (a university, a freeway, a scholarship, a centre in France, etc) and that he would be better aligned with the City of Monash.
 
In the end, the umpire ruled us out. They held the power.
 
We express our sadness and regret to all our Aboriginal friends – we had high hopes we might change something symbolic but profound.
 
We thank everyone who has worked on this campaign and written to the AEC to express your views and your support for an Aboriginal choice of name. May we now continue our work on other ways to honour past and present Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture and people.
 
Marg Lynn is secretary of the Bass Coast South Gippsland Reconciliation Group.
 
Why Monash?
The Victorian Redistributions Committee received more than 35 submissions on the proposal to rename the seat Monash, more than for any other electorate. Their final report states:
 
While some objections to the proposed redistribution and comments on objections voiced the opinion that the name ‘McMillan’ should be retained, many welcomed the Redistribution Committee’s proposal to retire the name. However, not all agreed that ‘Monash’ was the most appropriate name, with arguments made that while Sir John Monash is a worthy individual, he has been sufficiently recognised elsewhere, or it may be better to name an electoral division in a different part of Victoria after him.
 
Seven alternative names were offered, with many arguing that it would be most appropriate for the proposed electoral division to be given an Aboriginal name.
 
The augmented Electoral Commission:
  • understands the importance of recognising indigenous heritage and hurt, and proposes recognising the names of three important leaders in Aboriginal rights with the proposed Divisions of Cooper and Nicholls,
  • recognises the importance of maintaining Aboriginal names for divisions where possible and proposes retaining the name of the Division of Corangamite,
  • notes objections that the Monash name is strongly linked to Monash City Council, Monash University and the Monash freeway in the Division of Hotham, but also notes separation between the electoral divisions and municipalities of Casey, Corangamite and Maribyrnong. Local Government boundaries in Victoria have effectively been static for many years, however federal electoral division boundaries change over time and the attribution of a name to a specific area, based on associations at other levels of government, was not seen as a compelling argument, and
  • notes Sir John Monash’s broad connection to the division through his role in the State Electricity Commission and the development of the Latrobe Valley.
16 Comments
Margaret
23/6/2018 09:41:25 am

I respect what you tried to do and I agree wholeheartedly your reasons for.doing it, but sometimes it is so hard to say the names given by the indigenous people of our country and even harder to remember. It has taken me five years to get my head around a local name. I mean no disrespect to the original owners.

Reply
Bron Dahlstrom
23/6/2018 11:07:28 pm

Margaret, out of respect, we must learn to pronounce names that may seem unfamiliar. They then become familiar and we wonder why they seemed so difficult. Are you aware that nearly half the Gippsland towns have Aboriginal names? I am very sorry if you find these difficult to pronounce. Some of these names are given in this article. http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/07/03/3538066.htm When I first moved to Gippsland I was unaware that many of the towns were Aboriginal words. I'd heard them before and they seemed familiar. No doubt if our electorate had been given an Aboriginal name, after a while it would have not seemed so difficult.

Reply
John Mutsaers link
23/6/2018 10:47:17 am

No doubt Monash was a good man and in many ways a worthy successor to replace the McMillan name for our electorate but it wasn’t the best name. With so many things in Victoria already called “Monash” it might be time to rename Victoria, Monash. It could be argued that Monash did more for Victoria then the queen ever did. But, I digress; I think the Victorian Redistributions Committee missed an important opportunity to redress wrongs that can’t be absolved. McMillan was directly and indirectly responsible for the mass murder of many aboriginal people that he was actually appointed to protect. It would have been an honorable act of reconciliation and restoration if the commission had accepted an indigenous name such the one put forward by the Aboriginal Naming Committee formed by Gunnaikurnai and Bunurong people - Bunjileene-Purrine. Bunjileene and Purrine were distinguished warriors and elders in past indigenous communities and loved and honoured in aboriginal culture and history.
I am a proud member of the Bass Coast - South Gippsland Reconciliation Group who added their collective voices to the debate. I particularly commend Marg Lynn and Geoff Ellis for their excellent letter writing in support of the Bunjileene-Purrine name change.

In a reflective wrap-up; I would be quite happy to live in the electorate of Bunjileene-Purrine in the state of Monash.

Reply
Rob Humphrys
23/6/2018 11:35:05 am

The AEC has missed a golden opportunity to further the reconciliation process. With several states and territories beginning the treaty process it seems the AEC is out of touch with many in the community who wish to honour and respect the legacy of our First Nations peoples.

Reply
michael whelan
23/6/2018 12:26:12 pm

A lost opportunity while I also have the utmost respect for the Monash name it is not appropriate for this electorate and shows the intransigence and lack of insight of the establishment powers such as the Electoral Commission. I regret also that the name has been sullied by the worst of the right wing politicians in the Federal Parliament by naming their tawdry little group the Monash Group. As for aboriginal names being hard to pronounce - for gods sake! It is time to show enough respect to a civilisation that has been here for many thousands of years and learn to say them.

Reply
Carolyn Landon
23/6/2018 05:21:08 pm

Margaret, thank you for a succinct, beautifully expressed and true argument. The campaign for an electorate name change was conducted in a thoughtful and honourable way, allowing for calm reason, and genuine debate throughout. Gathering the KurnaiGunai and the Bunurong People together on an Aboriginal Naming Committee showed deep understanding and was an important recognition of the history of our First Nations People. Many of us are sad that the beautiful name Bunjileene-Purrine was not chosen. Wouldn't we have been proud to learn that new name and let it confidently roll off our tongues. It would have taken our imaginations deep into Country every time we said it.
Next time.
Congratulations, Margaret, and the Bass Coast South Gippsland Reconciliation Group.

Reply
Grace Couchman
24/6/2018 09:02:07 am

What a missed opportunity. Thanks Marg for such a succinct and respectful description of the process. I hope it has had other benefits in terms of building the strength of our local community.

Reply
Phil Bagley
26/6/2018 05:29:08 pm

Not sure what you mean re your comment?
Here is more evidence
https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p71671/pdf/article072.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjK8u3R1PDbAhVBVLwKHTckAFwQFjACegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw1ffXTD_ibOvdMGg_SFEyu8

Reply
Catherine Watson, Editor
26/6/2018 06:00:45 pm

Several comments have been deleted from this article as they were submitted using a false name and false email addresses. The Post encourages a respectful and open debate but comments must be submitted under the writer's real name unless there is a valid reason for withholding the identity of the writer.

Reply
Philip Bagley
27/6/2018 08:54:54 am

This appears to be left wing censorship at its best. Goodbye.

Reply
Cr Geoff Ellis
1/7/2018 07:34:42 pm

The Massacre Map of Victoria

http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/images/history/pre50s/masmap.html

Reply



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