POLLIES REJECT NAME CHANGE
Name change push labelled ‘PC madness’
A PUSH to change the name of Townsville because of its association with blackbirding has been slammed by local politicians.
Mayor Jenny Hill said it was an example of political correctness gone mad.
THURSTON, Wackettville and Castletown are some of the options for Townsville’s new name.
Amid a push to rename Mackay, Gladstone and Townsville due to associations with blackbirding and slave trading, North Queensland politicians have said changing the name won’t fix the past.
A petition signed by 400 people requesting the change was lodged with state parliament after the Queensland government said it would consider changing the names associated with British aristocrats and former politicians in favour of slavery.
The move comes after Black Lives Matter graffiti was found across the city this week and the hands of the statue of Robert Towns were vandalised with red paint.
Towns, the person Townsville was named after, was involved in the forced kidnapping of South Sea Islanders to work on North Queensland cane farms.
Mackay was named after Captain John Mackay, who conducted multiple blackbirding voyages in the late 1800s.
It would not be the first time a place name was changed in North Queensland.
In 2017, Niggers Bounce, which referred to an area west of Charters Towers, was removed by the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, along with Mount Nigger, Nigger Head and seven instances of Nigger Creek.
Mayor Jenny Hill said changing Townsville’s name could be an example of political correctness gone mad.
“I don’t think we should be ashamed (of our city’s history) but I do think we should be informed,” she said.
“Trying to bury history doesn’t change what happened.”
Cr Hill welcomed the debate, but added no one had formally raised the issue with Townsville City Council, which was needed for the name change to proceed.
When asked if becoming the mayor of Thurston was a good idea, Cr Hill said: “Johnathan (Thurston) is still alive, I don’t think he’d want a whole city named after him.”
Cr Hill suggested Wackettville might be an idea – named for Lawrence Wackett, the “father” of the Australian aircraft industry, who was born in Townsville.
Castletown, named after Castle Hill, has also been floated as a potential name for the town.
Traeger MP Robbie Katter said the name change campaign was “cancel culture” at its worst.
“Townsvillians should be deeply concerned,” Mr Katter said.
“If things keep going down this path, there will be no ‘Townsville’ and no ‘James Cook University’.
“We may end up with the ‘North Queensland Cowspeople’ too.”