The removal of an offensive name for a location in Queensland has sparked fresh concern about racist and colonialist place names across the country.
The Queensland government struck the name of Torres Strait maritime marker ‘N***** Head’ from its official records, after a 2017 survey found ten place names in the state that still included the racial slur.
In response, locals from throughout the country have expressed discomfort over names in their area that make reference to crimes committed against Indigenous Australians.
At Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast, locals have taken an issue with the name of Murdering Creek, which runs out from Lake Weyba, and Murdering Creek Road which is adjacent.
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The site is believed to have earned its name from a massacre of Indigenous Australians that took place in the 1860s.
The road’s name has been the subject of debate for a number of years, with locals undecided over the most appropriate way to acknowledge its dark history.
In 2017, calls to rename it were met with mixed reactions from local Indigenous community members.
Resident Roselys Blaich told the Sunshine Coast Daily the name should be kept with a memorial added to “properly recognise what happened there”.
After the Queensland government announced it was considering reverting the name of Fraser Island back to K’gari in recognition of the racism brought upon the local Butchulla people by its namesake Eliza Fraser.
Following the news, Sunshine Coast local Sue Norman said it was time to rename Murdering Creek Road.
“(It’s a) terrible name and reminder,” she said. “It should be changed.”
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