How we got Phillip Island centre ‘naming’ process wrong

CR BRUCE Kent has acknowledged that the Bass Coast Shire Council got the process of naming the new Phillip Island Cultural Centre wrong, while being confident the community would still have arrived at the same destination, with a First Nation’s name for the $27.2 million facility, if given the opportunity.

His frank mea culpa came at last Wednesday’s council meeting and was met with a firm “hear, hear” from the only two people in the public gallery, avid council watchers, Graham Jolly and John Trigt.

He was talking about the proposal, now endorsed by the council, to encourage the community to vote for one of four names for the new cultural centre, in the local Boon Wurrung language, on the council’s Engage Bass Coast website over the next month.

After being invited to do so, the names suggested by the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (BLCAC) are as follows:

1. Barmewoon (Only My Strength)
2. Mogarmarlarly Murk (Lead Me)
3. Berninneit (Gather Together)
4. Kummargee (Rise Up).

But Cr Kent said the shire should have asked the community for its suggestions on suitable names for the new cultural centre.

An indicative poll by the Sentinel-Times, conducted on social media in the past week produced the following results:

• Berninneit 32.4%
• Kummargee 2.7%
• Phillip Island Cultural Centre 43.2%
• Millowl Community and Cultural Centre 21.6%

Effectively, more than 50% have voted for an indigenous name, so Cr Kent may have been right.

“I will be supporting this recommendation, but I do have a couple of concerns that I think this has, in my belief, been pushed through pretty quickly.

“I know that we do have a due date for the opening of the building and we have a situation now where the community will be consulted over four fantastic names, great, great names. But I have a lot of trust and faith in the community that they would like to be part of reconciliation at the base level.

“And I'm a little bit disappointed that we haven't had some consultation to actually get us to where we are now because I believe that the community would step up and agree, if consulted, that going down the path that we're going down now is a great, great opportunity.

“But I believe that they have been thrown into the point of making a decision for four names instead of taking that one step back where they could say, yes, let's approach the council (BLCAC) to get those names, that’s all, we'd end up in the same point but I just feel as if we've missed a little bit of opportunity for the local community to jump up and show their strength for the reconciliation.

“That's all, something to learn, I believe, for the future. Thank you.”

Cr Leticia Laing also spoke during the debate at council on Wednesday, reporting support for the process from within arts and reconciliation groups but also expressing disappointment about some of the feedback from the general community.

“I have been disappointed with some of the conversation within other parts of the community because I think that when there has been a genuine engagement with the traditional owners, you can't ignore that and then choose or potentially culturally appropriate the names that you like as suggestions when the traditional owners have actually proposed those,” said Cr Laing.

“We're talking about the oldest continuous living culture in the world and if we didn't have a cultural centre that recognized that in their own traditional lands, it would be pretty disappointing.

“So, I'm really, really delighted that we can engage in this process. I'm very supportive of it and I also just wanted to really quickly highlight that using these Boon Wurrung language names supports the regeneration of the language in our community and in the broader conversations that we can have about cultural identity and our First Nations people.”

The proposer of the motion, to put the four Boon Wurrung names out for a vote, Cr David Rooks, said Phillip Island attracted more than 3 million visitors a year and just as other iconic visitor sites such as Uluru had embraced their cultural heritage, it would be a good message for Phillip Island to do likewise with the new cultural centre.

What Cr Rooks had to say

"The naming of the new Cowes cultural centre is another milestone in the completion of this significant Council project. I believe the community of Cowes, Phillip Island and Bass Coast will be pleased with council’s intention to name the centre with a First Nation’s name.

“Our 2041 Community Vision, developed through deliberate engagement with community members states: “We live proudly on Bunurong country and build on learnings from our first peoples and their knowledge.

“When you are proud of something you'd like to share the story with others. By naming in the new cultural centre with a First Nation’s name, it provides an opportunity for our community to show that they are proud in living Bunurong country.

“There are of course other strong reasons to name the new cultural centre with a First Nation’s name. It's a further step towards building an ongoing relationship with our First Nation’s people and recognizing their incredible contribution towards art and culture over 10s of 1000s of years.

“It's an act of reconciliation and support council’s acknowledgement of country statement that being that Bass Coast Shire Council will create opportunities for future recognition and respect for partnerships that will honour our traditional custodians and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people.

“As a council we agreed to approach to Bunurong people and asked them if they would be interested in naming the new cultural centre. They accepted and as part of their process, they provided four names and I was going to read out the names but Mr Box has done that for me, so I don't need to, though I did practice.

The Bunurong Land Council have asked if one of those four names could be selected, and as a community, I trust we can respectfully acknowledge the request. Further than that, I hope we are honoured that the Bunurong people were willing to be part of the naming process and that we can be proud to assist them in choosing the name of our choice.

“On another note, I think about the national movement of recognition and reconciliation that our country and others are working through with their first peoples. I think about the 3 million visitors that visit Phillip Island each year and I think about how those visitors will see our island and its people.

“Places like Uluru and Kata Tjuta are names that represent our first peoples. By naming our new cultural centre with one of four names offered by the Bunurong, our community demonstrates its efforts towards an ongoing respectful relationship with First Nations people. Furthermore, it aligns with the national movement of reconciliation, and allows our community to proudly tell its story to the millions of visitors who visit our area. I'm pleased to be supporting this recommendation, thank you.”

To register your vote on the Engage Bass Coast website, go to: https://engage.basscoast.vic.gov.au/firstnationsnaming