Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation chief executive Jill Gallagher said the proposed name change was deeply hurtful.Credit:Joe Armao
Greens senator Lidia Thorpe,a DjabWurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman,also slammed the plans,writing on Twitter:“This is not what Treaty looks like,Dan ... What an insult to now colonise us,again”.
Andrews pledged $1 billion to rebuild and rename Maroondah Hospital in Ringwood East on Sunday,a day after the opposition promised $400 million towards improving the facility.
Labor’s proposed upgrade would include the creation of 200 new beds,extra treatment spaces,a new emergency department and a mental health hub. It would also rename it after Queen Elizabeth II.
The hospital’s current name,Maroondah,derives from the Woiwurrung words for “leaf” and “throwing”,a reference to the area’s natural environment and rich Indigenous history.
VACCHO chief executive Jill Gallagher said the proposed name change was deeply hurtful at a time when society was in desperate need of increased recognition of Aboriginal leaders,language and culture.
“Whilst we are surrounded by British culture in this country,Aboriginal culture and the Aboriginal way of life is almost invisible,” Gallagher said.