THE state seat of Cleveland will be renamed Oodgeroo after North Stradbroke Island poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, with locals saying she has been honoured as a great Australian.
The controversial renaming drew support and opposition from locals, with the LNP lodging a formal objection to the proposal.
Announcing the decision today, Queensland Redistribution Commission chairman Hugh Botting said the commission also would move the suburb of Mount Cotton and most of Sheldon into the seat of Springwood where LNP Redland city councillor Julie Talty will challenge Labor’s Housing Minister Mick de Brenni at the next election.
The decision could impact Redland MP Matt McEachan who will lose some good LNP booths.
Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Cameron Costello said the renaming was wonderful news for Noonuccal’s family, the Quandamooka community, Redlands-Moreton Bay and Australia.
“There is no doubt that Ooodgeroo was a great Quandamooka elder and great Australian,’’ Mr Costello said.
“...Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker) was a great poet, educator and leading light of Australian and Indigenous literature and education.
“She was also a great activist for Aboriginal rights, including voting rights. Her story provides an enduring reminder to all Australians as to why we are privileged to be able to vote.
“When you consider that fact, having a state electorate named after her makes sense.’’
Cleveland MP Mark Robinson said the LNP, like most Redland residents, supported keeping the name Cleveland.
The main reasons were for the convention that federal electorates were persons’ names and state electorates place names and the cost to tax payers to make changes.
"Now that the ECQ have made their decision, we all need to move on,” Dr Robinson said.
"The Palaszczuk Labor government needs to do more than champion electorate name changes, they need to provide real jobs for the Quandamooka Aboriginal workers that they are sacking from the (Stradbroke) mine closure,’’ he said.
Mr Botting said the commission decided to deviate from the practice of naming electoral districts after towns or suburbs, favouring instead the use of significant people or landmarks.
This was because as electorates “moved” boundaries changed, sometimes resulting in a suburb which was formerly central to the district, being outside the electorate.
Mr Costello said it was fitting that the decision be announced the day before the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, which recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution, and as the community prepared to celebrate National Reconciliation Week next week.
“Oodgeroo played a big role in making that 1967 referendum happen,’’ he said. “Today is also the first anniversary of last year’s historic vote in the Queensland Parliament, which overturned the Newman government’s North Stradbroke Island laws, which tried to extend the suppression of our native title rights and interests over large parts of Minjerribah without Quandamooka consent,’’ he said.
MP Andrew Laming whose federal seat of Bowman encompasses the electorates said he supported the decision on Oodgeroo and the new boundaries. “The Oodgeroo decision is a qualitative one and one that we will get behind,’’ he said.
Mr Laming said the change in Springwood boundaries was needed to equalise seats and it might be that as population trends continued, Mount Cotton would return to be part of Redlands at some time.
Redistributions are conducted about every eight years, with the latest driven by the former LNP government which sought to increase the number of electorates from 89 to 93.