It’s worthwhile considering just why and how it came to be that something seemingly so innocuous became such a point of debate. Let’s start by examining the major accusation.

Is Ballarat a racist backwater?

Simply, the answer is no. Our city has a history of recognising the contribution of indigenous people.

Many of the suburbs in Ballarat pay homage to the traditional custodians of the land, the Wathaurong  and Aboriginal elders and modern-day city leaders embrace the ideals of equality and engagement across all people in our community.

Ballarat, like most Australian cities, has much to learn as ignorance still exists in pockets of our community. But to label our city racist based upon a suburb naming debate is shallow, divisive and plain wrong.

So why is there a negative perception?

Some of the reasons put forward to reject Mullawallah were based upon a difficulty spelling or saying the name. This led to the conclusion that as a community we are superficial – or in some way racist.

Many of the submissions, in fact, advocated for recognition of Mullawallah within the suburb but not as the suburb name. 

So why did the councillors clearly reject Mullawallah?

 Cr Belinda Coates told The Courier all councillors were briefed that Mullawallah was mostly compliant with the guidelines for geographic names and it seems that no investigative research had been put forward to support claims it would create problems for emergency services.

On balance, this is a case where pure weight of numbers, rather than real evidence, was the overriding factor. Looking ahead, it puts the councillors in an interesting position.

What happens when the suburb next comes up for decision and 100 people don’t like Yorkdale or Wilson Heights or Winter Creek because it doesn’t pay appropriate homage to the past, doesn’t comply with naming guidelines, or just isn’t the favoured option for residents?

The council will no doubt be forced to make a decision that doesn’t please everyone.

Is the decision therefore a sign of a lack of strong leadership?

Or is it a sign that the council has listened closely to those who made submissions? There was sufficient community consultation on the suburb naming proposal, going back months.

However, as is often the case, it is more common for submissions to be made against a proposal than for one.

When assessing leadership, it might be more useful to compare the value placed on the opinions of what is statistically a small proportion of residents with what the decision says about Ballarat as a whole.

Where to from here?

One idea is for Ballarat to consider a wider theme for suburb names – in recognition of the traditional owners of the land as has been the informal case in the past – or maybe in commemoration of those key to the Eureka Rebellion? Or maybe that will just create another lightning rod for controversy. 

We’ve heard quite a bit about our community and decision-making this week, not much of it positive. If nothing else, let’s hope this debate is a catalyst for action, because in essence

it will be greater engagement in the decision-making process that will ultimately deliver results that reflect closely the views of the community and enhance our city’s reputation.

andrew.eales@fairfaxmedia.com.au