Aboriginal dual naming discontent as government announces expansion of policy

On Wednesday, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Jacquie Petrusma announced that the government would be expanding its dual naming policy to allow "all Aboriginal communities ... to have a say about place name nomination in their area".

"Acknowledging Aboriginal names for geographical features and places helps in the wider preservation of Aboriginal heritage, and is an important process in reconciliation," she said.

One example of dual naming is Hobart's famous mountain now being officially known as kunanyi / Mount Wellington.

While some groups praised the government's decision to broaden the policy, Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre palawa kani language coordinator Annie Reynolds said the government was "trying to play different groups off against each other".

"The whole purpose of [this policy revision] is to court these marginal groups who, as part of their claim to authenticity, now claim to speak 'local Aboriginal languages'," Ms Reynolds said. "But there are no 'local languages' left in Tasmania - that's the sad fact of history."

"That's why we've been labouring for nearly 30 years to bring palawa kani back to life by retrieving the original sounds and building an authentic language using words from as many of those original languages as we can.

"We are the body that has the mandate from the Aboriginal community for the retrieval and the revival of Aboriginal language [here] and we've been funded by the Commonwealth government to do that for almost 30 years."

The Tasmanian Regional Aboriginal Communities Alliance issued a statement on Thursday saying it was "delighted" the policy had been revised to involve "local" Aboriginal communities.

"This is true self-determination that we have been calling [for] for many years," he said.