NEW NAMES FOR LEICHHARDT AND COOK

Leichhardt Independent candidate Norman Miller said today, “I am passionate about having a conversation to change the name of Leichhardt to Mabo-Koowarta to honour the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal pioneers of native title i.e. the recognition that Australia was not terra nullius or an empty land when settled by Britain. John Koowarta from Aurukun is less well known than Eddie Koiki Mabo but is known as the Mabo of the Mainland. Neither lived to see the fruit of their work.

Traditional owner Martha Koowarta outside the federal court in Brisbane in 2013 Photo Dan Peled/AAP

“In 1974, the Aboriginal Land Fund Commission purchased land for John Koowarta’s people near the Archer River, but the Bjelke-Petersen Government stopped the transfer. Koowarta took the Queensland government to court, and in 1982 won a case of racial discrimination, validating the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

“The landmark Koowarta v. Bjelke-Petersen case extended the Commonwealth’s external affairs power over ‘a matter of international concern,’ such as racial discrimination establishing a precedent which was a key to winning Mabo v. Queensland [No. 1], 1988. Without John Koowarta, Prime Minister Paul Keating commented, ‘there would have been no Mabo case, no native title legislation’ (Courier-Mail 1993, 14).

“John Koowarta’s widow Martha bravely continued the lead role for her people until their right to their traditional lands was recognised in 2012 and 2014. Similarly, Mabo’s widow Bonita passionately carried on her husband’s work. They were a team.

“I would also like to see the name of the state seat of Cook changed to Deeral to recognise the first Indigenous person in the Qld Parliament, Eric Deeral. My wife worked with Eric when she was the Secretariat Director of the Aboriginal Coordinating Council. My father also worked with Eric, and I went to school with his children.

“I think it is notable that it was Aboriginal people from Hopevale where Eric lived who led the first Reconciliation event in Australia between First Nations people and non-Indigenous people i.e. explorer Captain Cook. This is re-enacted each year at the Cooktown Discovery Festival.

Eric Deeral and Barbara Miller release the Deaths in Custody submission she wrote for the Aboriginal Coordinating Council to submit to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

“As seven years have passed since the last electoral redistribution in Queensland, the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 requires this redistribution. On 28 March 2025, the Acting Electoral Commissioner deferred the redistribution of Queensland’s 30 electoral divisions until after the federal elections and after the House of Representatives in the 48th Parliament has met for the first time.

“This gives the opportunity not just for a redistribution but also the renaming of seats. In 2019, the seat of Batman was renamed after famous Aboriginal rights campaigner William Cooper who also led the Australian Aborigine’s League on one of the few private protests worldwide against Kristallnacht in 1938, the start of the Holocaust.

“Kristallnacht was when synagogues, Jewish business and homes were either burned or had their windows smashed, at least 91 Jews were killed, and 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps. This was while Aboriginal people were not citizens of their own land and could not vote.

“William Cooper is also the father of NAIDOC, and my wife Barbara has written 3 books about him with a children’s book on the way.

“There are other seats named after influential Aboriginal leaders like Bennelong, Bonner and Blair.

“Having said that, I recognise that we are one Australia, and we don’t want to be divided by race. I support Australia, and as Noel Pearson once said - Australia's national heritage is composed of three main parts: the ancient Indigenous heritage, the British heritage, and the multicultural heritage. He often refers to these as the "three epic strands" or "three stories" that make Australia one. 

“As the only Indigenous candidate for Leichhardt and the only Independent, I will govern for all Aussies, and I am a proud Indigenous Australian who wants all Australians to be proud of our nation. Our history is not perfect but show me a nation on this earth who has a perfect history.”