Jessica Micallef
Hume deputy mayor Jack Medcraft has backflipped on a call to consider changing the name of a Sunbury residential estate.
Cr Medcraft raised a notice of motion during a February council meeting for the council to write to the appropriate body to have the name ‘Goonawarra’ – a residential locality on the eastern outskirts of Sunbury – removed and replaced by the “proper” Aboriginal name, ‘Gunawarra’.
At the time, Cr Medcraft said when translated, Goonawarra meant “s**t place”. He said Gunawarra translated to “swan place” and was a more appropriate name.
However, Cr Medcraft has sent a letter to all councillors, notifying them of his decision not to pursue the matter further.
He said he had received concerns from the community about his proposal.
“I had people ringing me, asking what I am doing, you’ve lost me, how could I change the name?” he said.
“We have listened to the people and I am prepared to respect people’s arguments.”
Cr Medcraft said his proposal had given Goonawarra the “self-respect it deserved.”
“Goonawarra … had a reputation,” he said.
“But now it’s first home buyers and people wanting to live on the outskirts of Sunbury and near the [Goonawarra] golf course.
“I wanted people to look at Goonawarra and say it’s an area that they wanted to be in.”
