Rainbow Beach businesses weigh in on Fraser Island name change to K’gari

The decision to return Fraser Island to its original Indigenous name, K’gari, meaning ‘paradise,’ has found general support on the Cooloola and Fraser Coast, but one question remains - who will pay?

The State Government’s commitment to formally changing Fraser Island’s name to K’gari has been met with general support in Rainbow Beach and Fraser Coast business and torusim communities, but the question of who will foot the bill of the rebrand remains a point of contention for some.

Reception to the State Government decision to call the Fraser Island world heritage area by its original Indigenous name K’gari continues to be overwhelmingly positive, though a longtime Rainbow Beach businessman said one key detail remained unclear: who will pay?

Retired businessman Tony Stewart questioned the need for the change, saying the question of who would pick up the bill remained unanswered.

“What’s this going to cost to change all the signage and marketing?” Mr Stewart said.

The State Government announced on Sunday its commitment to renaming the world heritage area centred on Fraser Island, the waters around it and parts of the mainland coast.

The move was celebrated the same day at a ceremony on the island with Butchulla elders and representatives.

Mr Stewart questioned the move and what it would cost the State Government, which did not seem to have any money for major safety fixes to the main roads between Rainbow Beach and Gympie.

Retired Rainbow Beach businessman Tony Stewart questioned who would foot the bill to rename the island, given the State Government did not seem to have money to fix one of the Gympie region’s deadliest roads (which was a direct link for travellers between the city and barges heading to the island).

Over the past two decades this stretch has been deadlier than any other in the Gympie region except the Bruce Highway; from 2000-2018 Tin Can Bay Rd was the site of 14 deaths in 13 fatal crashes.

Mr Stewart has been campaigning for safety upgrades to the stretch.

“(The state) hasn’t got money to fix our road,” Mr Stewart said.

The change was something he said he could not “see the point of”, and said it reminded him of efforts to change the name of a national park in Victoria before the turn of the century.

“I saw this when they renamed the Grampians,” Mr Stewart said.

“It caused a big backlash down there.”

The park was renamed the Grampians (Gariwerd) National park in 1991, following two years of consultation.

Rainbow Beach business stalwart Ruth Modin did not think the change would impact tourism.

This was reversed in 1992 following a change in the state government.

“I can’t see the point of it.”

Wolf Rock Dive owner James Nelson said he understood why that would be a concern, but at the end of the day all marketing had to be replaced eventually.

“I’d wait until things looked a bit tired and swap (the names) out,” Mr Nelson said.

The name change had other benefits, too.

As a former United Kingdom resident Mr Nelson said that country was full of places named things like “Fraser”.

“There’s something quite cool about coming to another country and having an exotic local name,” he said.

Wolf Rock Dive owner James Nelson said countries like his United Kingdom home were full of things with names like “Fraser” and the change added an alluring and uniquely Australian element.

“It sounds a little bit more alluring.”

Rainbow Beach Adventure Centre 4WD owner Wendy Shaw was “perfectly happy” with the change.

Ms Shaw, whose company hires out 4WDs for tourists to explore the Cooloola Coast and K’gari, said the renaming highlighted the island‘s native history.

“It‘s just respectful to put the name back as it always should have been,” she said.

There was no fear of a potential drop in tourism either.

“It‘s still going to have the Fraser Island name around,” she said.

Cooloola Coast businesswoman Ruth Modin has owned the Rainbow Beach Foodworks for decades and said the name change would not damage tourism in the region.

“It will have no impact on tourism,” Mrs Modin said.

The response from near the island’s southern tip echoed the support from the Fraser Coast community.

Fraser Coast Tourism and Events Manager Martin Simons welcomed the move and said the region was up to the challenge.

“There’s still a lot of brand equity overseas in Fraser Island so as a region, from a tourism point of view we need to understand that and work with that to make the transition,” Mr Simons said.

Members of the community were less impressed with the decision.

An online News Corp poll run at the time of the announcement revealed 70 per cent of those who voted disagreed with the name change.