WfaAR is still not satisfied with responses from the Government about renaming part of Parkes Place in the Parliamentary Zone in Canberra as Queen Elizabeth Terrace to mark the Diamond Jubilee. So, we have written again for more answers and to find out who in the Government made the decision (see link below). If you are wondering why we are pursuing nomenclature of roadways in the capital, there is no further to look than the changes made to names given by the Griffins, who always imagined Australia as a republic, to central and important Canberra streets. Their names: “Federal”, “State” and “Australia” were quickly changed to “Kings”, “Dominion” and “Empire” by conservative bureaucrats own concerns that “the American’s designations were incompatible with Australian sentiment”. The revised names were intended to evoke Australia’s colonial past and imagined future. Seems things haven’t changed much in a century. [Information sourced from the exhibition: “The Dream of A Century, the Griffins in Australia’s Capital” at the National Library of Australia to 10 June 2013]
Download: our letter to the Prime Minister [143KB, pdf]
