NT government pushes to rename racist place names after Queensland's move

The Northern Territory government will move to rename racist and offensive place names in the region.

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said he had spoken to the NT place names committee and urged them to bring in more signage that better reflects history Source: AAP

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said he had spoken to the NT place names committee and urged them to bring in more signage that better reflects history.

His suggested list of places to consider included 'N*****' Creek and Blackgin Bore.

“I’ve asked the place names committee to consider how we can more involve Aboriginal names for places in the Territory,” Mr Gunner said.
“I know Queensland is going through a process at the moment where some place names are highly offensive, not historically offensive... but in a swear word way.

“I do think those things need to be considered but I don’t think you can make rushed decisions around that, I want the place names committee to do it in an orderly way.

“For me it’s not about necessarily changing names it’s about [how] we have got names for places that already exist and not using them, and not paying respect to them in the right way.”
According to the NT Place Names Register, there is one place called 'N*****' Creek, six locations using “blackgin” and 14 with variations of the word “blackfellow” or “blackfella”.

Mr Gunner also believes more Territory and Australian history needs to be taught in the school curriculum.

“I believe that more of our history needs to be known, that’s not necessarily pre- or post-1788, that’s just full stop,” he said.

The most well-known example of a successful name change is Ayers Rock which was reverted back to its pre-colonial name, Uluru.

Earlier this week Queensland announced it had renamed 10 place names that contained 'N*****'.

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2 min read

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By Louise Cheer


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