A bold ‘virtue signalling’ plan to rename Australia’s third biggest city to its Indigenous name ahead of the 2032 Olympics has been branded as insane and ridiculous.
Premier Annastasia Palaszczuk and the Queensland government are reportedly working ‘behind the scenes’ with Indigenous Australians and the Greens on the proposed name change from Brisbane to Meanjin.
There’s also a proposal to rename several streets in the heart of the city’s CBD along with the possible removal a statue of George V at iconic landmark City Hall, veteran journalist Peter Gleeson told 4BC listeners on Wednesday.
The rumoured reports have been branded by Premier Palaszczuk as ‘absolute nonsense.’
But the Premier’s denials have done nothing to quell the barrage of backlash over the renaming proposing.
Furious One Nation leader Pauline Hanson called for the Palaszczuk government to be voted out at next year’s state election.
Queensland Premier Annastasia Palaszczuk (pictured) rubbished reports that the state government will propose to rename Brisbane before the city hosts the 2032 Olympics
‘How insane is this, to actually want to change the name of Brisbane, that’s been called Brisbane for what 150 years plus,’ Senator Hanson told Sky News Australia.
‘And generations have grown up under Brisbane; all our birth certificates, marriage certificates, where were we born? Brisbane, Australia. All our tourism – people overseas know it as Brisbane.
‘And we’re going to change it to a name that – I kind even remember what you said, within matter of a few seconds – I can’t remember.
‘And I have no intentions of actually wanting to remember. So the fact is, to me it will be Brisbane.’
‘Wanting to change it to some Aboriginal name is absolutely ridiculous.’
The name Meanjin is derived from the Turrbal word for the spike of land on which parts of Brisbane was built.
It comes after the Queensland government renamed popular tourist destination Fraser Island, now known as K’gari.
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Queensland’s capital Brisbane (pictured) will host the Olympics in 2032
Former Queensland Senator and Sky News host Amanda Stoker urged the state government to ‘lay off the virtue-signalling.’
‘We should all respect and treat as our equals the people in this country who have Indigenous roots,’ Ms Stoker said.
‘But that doesn’t mean we need to rewrite history. It doesn’t mean we need to change the name of everything. And it doesn’t mean we need to carry a black armband about everything in our past.’
Queensland opposition leader David Crisafulli has also slammed the move.
‘Not a chance. Every Queenslander would be looking at this this morning would be shaking their head and say they’re not going to change that,’ he told Today show on Thursday.
Pauline Hanson (pictured) has jumped on the bandwagon of outrage against the proposal
Queensland-based federal treasurer Jim Chalmers was reluctant to weigh in on the saga.
‘I hadn’t given it a moment’s thought until someone asked me 30 minutes ago,’ he said on Thursday.
‘If there is a conversation going on, I haven’t been part of it.
‘Obviously we try and recognise the First Nations heritage of beautiful places like Brisbane and like K’gari, that’s a good thing.
‘But I’ve got a few things on my plate at the moment and this hasn’t been one of those things.’
The Queensland government has already renamed Fraser to its Indigenous name K’gari
