Tasmania’s five federal electorates will keep their current names after an independent panel decided against renaming Franklin to Tongerlongeter.
The Australian Electoral Commission ruled that while the case for the name change was strong, more consultation was needed before such a move could be made.
The decision follows the biggest shake-up of Tasmania’s electoral map in decades, with more than 27% of voters, around 114,000 people, set to change seats at the next federal election.
Australian Electoral Commissioner Jeff Pope said the panel found Tongerlongeter had a clear connection to the area covered by Franklin’s redrawn boundaries.
“However, public submissions not only indicated a level of disagreement among Tasmanian Aboriginal organisations and individuals about the proposed name but also highlighted a broad sentiment that further consultation was required,” he said.
Tongerlongeter, who lived from around 1790 to 1837, is regarded as one of the most significant Tasmanian Aboriginal leaders of the early colonial period.
The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre had condemned the proposal when it was announced in July, saying it “goes against everything he fought and died for”.
Centre campaign coordinator Nala Mansell said Tongerlongeter’s name was actually Tukalunginta and that he was a leader who died resisting British colonisation.
“To suggest that Tukalunginta’s name should now be used to represent the very colonial political system he resisted – one that, 223 years later, continues to deny Aborigines the same rights he fought and died defending, is offensive and absurd,” she said.
Mansell said the centre would have corrected the spelling and suggested more appropriate options had the commission contacted it earlier.
“Instead of making decisions about Aboriginal people and inviting us to comment afterwards, organisations should involve Aboriginal people from the beginning,” she said.
The Liberal and Labor parties had also opposed the change.
Pope said other names were put forward, including Mathinna, Rooke and Woureddy, but the panel had to base its decision on evidence already received.
The boundary changes see Clark expand south to take in the Huon Valley and the rest of the Kingborough council area, while Franklin loses its position as Australia’s southernmost electorate.
Lyons will gain the Glenorchy council area and Bass will expand to include Break O’Day on the north-east coast.
Braddon remains unchanged.
The new electorate boundaries will take effect from the next federal election.
