Sad and angry with Baw Baw

I was very sad and pretty angry when I read that Baw Baw Shire councillors had voted to not support the invitation from South Gippsland Shire to rename the federal electorate of McMillan.

Did they check to see if the Kurnai in Baw Baw had been contacted to support the name change? South Gippsland at least asked and rang and spoke to me.

I wonder if they have ever really seen me or other Kurnai Elders as we have worked long hours, often voluntarily, on shire committees.

I wonder whether they have really considered the well-being of the 400 Indigenous people in this shire.

Have they ever listened and tried to understand the position our people are in because of events that happened since colonisation, particular in Gippsland dating back to 1897 all those years ago?

Were they truly paying their respects to Elders past, present and future?

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Did they consider what a great affirmation of empathy and support such a name change would bring to Indigenous people across Gippsland? And the impact one simple proactive action might have on the spirit of Kurnai and Gunai alike?

Haven’t they read the letters in the paper and seen articles about McMillan?

Did they even make one phone call to ask what the Indigenous people might think about it all?

Have they no sense of right and wrong? And of righting wrongs?

Yes I am very sad, and pretty angry with the Baw Baw Shire councillors who tick their boxes and don’t really think about things that matter to the Indigenous people who live in their shire. Cheryl Drayton Kurnai Elder less whatever paltry amount was fundraised by the arts centre patrons.

It appears that Cr Tricia Jones is the only responsible member of the council who has any accountability to ratepayers as she was the only one who voted against the project continuing because she wanted to stop burdening ratepayers unnecessarily with further unwarranted debt.

If the patrons of the arts centre want a new centre so badly then they should obtain their funding from private sources and not continue to burden ratepayers pockets with even more unwanted debt which of course will inevitably cause rate and fee rises by council to pay for their silver tail excesses.

For the councillors who voted for this project to proceed and the council bureaucrats that are also pushing for this project to go ahead, all I can say is shame on you for your total lack of fiscal responsibility to the community that you represent.

If it was your money that you were spending and you knew how to budget properly I am sure you would re consider this stupidity before committing us all to lifetime of debt when the project is so totally unjustified to all except the privileged few high salary earners who can afford to attend shows at the arts centre. Keith Salmon Yarragon