Aboriginal names of landmarks poised for comeback
Some of the best known tourist attractions - including Sydney Harbour Bridge, Botany Bay and the country's highest peak, Mount Kosciusko - could soon be known by their Aboriginal names.
Ayers Rock has already been renamed Uluru, but in a further move to appease Aboriginal sensitivities, New South Wales has announced a policy of dual naming under which famous features would be known by both their indigenous names and those given to them by European settlers. The policy includes mountains, cliffs, caves, waterfalls and harbours.
Aboriginal leaders have also raised the prospect of Sydney's famous harbour bridge being given a new name - to the anger of many white Australians.
Under the scheme, a register of historic Aboriginal names for landmarks and other natural features will be established with the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Communities will then have a say on which landmarks should adopt an indigenous name.
So Botany Bay, where Captain James Cook first set foot on Australian soil in 1770, would be known as Biddi-gal or Gweagal, after the Aboriginal tribes who lived on its shores.
Farm Cove, located in the heart of Sydney and named after the vegetable gardens established there by the first convicts, would become Kookaroo or Woccanmagulli.
The chairman of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, Rod Towney, said indigenous languages had been among the greatest casualties of British colonisation.
'The damage done to our distinct and unique voice has had a truly devastating effect on many communities and keeping language alive can go some way towards rebuilding pride and self-esteem,' he said.
Of around 500 Aboriginal languages spoken when Australia was first colonised, about 200 have died out.
Tom Smith, manager of the council's land rights unit, said Sydney Harbour Bridge might be renamed, although man-made structures are supposed to be exempt from the policy. The Land Council later released a statement retracting Mr Smith's comments.
Mr Smith said La Perouse, an area south of Sydney where a French explorer first landed in Australia, was 'offensive to Aboriginal people' because it represented years of subjugation and colonisation by Europeans.
The scheme has been criticised as divisive by some non-Aboriginal Australians.
But Mr Towney accused critics of reacting hysterically, pointing out that the city was already littered with Aboriginal names, such as Woollomooloo and Kirribilli, home to the official residence of Prime Minister John Howard.
Others welcomed the move, saying Aboriginal names were often more interesting than those chosen by Europeans.
