Northcote High dumps controversial John Batman from school’s house line up
History is not looking fondly on Melbourne’s founding father John Batman, with Northcote High School now dumping the controversial figure’s name from one of its school houses in favour of indigenous leader William Cooper.
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Melbourne’s syphilis riddled founding father John Batman has been dumped from the school house line up at Northcote High School.
The school has replaced Batman, who negotiated a treaty with local indigenous to acquire what is now Melbourne, with indigenous political activist William Cooper.
Box Hill High School is expected to dump Batman in coming months.
Batman has been linked with killings of indigenous people and is reported to have died from syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease.
Northcote High School confirmed the decision during an assembly in recent weeks. It has retained other house names including Merri, Plenty and Sumner which reflect local landmarks.
“As part of reinvigorating and strengthening our students’ engagement with our house system and sense of community, Northcote High School undertook to change the name of one of our houses from Batman to Cooper,” principal Sue Harrap told the Herald Sun.
“We undertook wide consultation with all members of our school community, especially our indigenous student leaders, about the possible change. It has been overwhelmingly supported by our community.
“The change also reflects the recent renaming of the federal electorate our school is in to Cooper.
In June 2018, the Australian Electoral Commission renamed the federal seat of Batman to Cooper in honour of the indigenous.
The seat, which takes in Northcote, Fairfield, Thornbury, Preston and Reservoir is held for the ALP by Ged Kearney.
A Yorta Yorta man, William Cooper was a spokesman for Aboriginal people. He called for direct representation in parliament, enfranchisement, land rights and federal control of Aboriginal affairs. He died in 1941.
When the Australian Electoral Commission redistributed the electorate in 2018 it received submissions about Batman’s connection with the massacre of Aborigines in Tasmania before he settled Melbourne.
The Batman electorate has existed since 1906. Northcote High opened in 1926 but is unclear when it established its house system.
All students are allocated to a house: Merri (yellow), Plenty (green) and Sumner (blue) and now Cooper (red).
The Northcote move comes after a stalled student push at Box Hill High School to get rid of what students viewed as an outdated house system.
A student-led overthrow sought to dump existing names, including Batman, with the likes of Kerryn Phelps, Anh Do, Fred Hollows and Dylan Alcott.
In 2018 the Year 11 and Year 12 leadership group started agitating for the existing names Batman, explorer and WA Premier John Forrest, Prime Minister Alfred Deakin and Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson to be dumped.
While there was support for a discussion, alumni and some within the school felt blindsided and concerned that student voice was out of control.
They also questioned the relevance and suitability of some of the four female and four male options championed by the student body.
Tennis player Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, Australian of the Year Lowitja O’Donoghue, athlete Cathy Freeman, medico and former MP Phelps, former Victorian premier Joan Kirner, Marita Cheng, a Young Australian of the Year in 2012 for her work in promoting women in STEM, Edith Cowan, the first woman in parliament, and Elizabeth Kenny, who served as nurse in WW1, were suggested.
Male options were heart surgeon Dr Victor Chang, indigenous footballer Michael Long, ophthalmologist Hollows, indigenous activist Eddie Mabo, comedian Do, indigenous elder William Barak, wheelchair athlete Alcott and inventor John O’Sullivan.
Students from the school, which has around 1300 students from diverse backgrounds, said they wanted to honour two women and two men who reflected racial diversity and sport, politics, arts, culture and community and had made a genuine and recognisable contribution to the community.
The school put the brakes on the push, wanting to make it more consultative.
“Box Hill High School has been undertaking an extensive consultation process to explore options for new house names,” principal Losh Pillay told the Herald Sun.
“A working group comprised of parents, staff and our student leaders is currently finalising a shortlist of possible new names that will reflect our school values, culture and shared history, before members of the school community are able to vote on their preferred choices.
“We hope to finalise our new house names by April/May this year.”
It is unclear what houses names are still in the mix.
In his parting message, 2018 school captain Madusha Karunsagara applauded the move to change the houses, which are thought to date to the school’s foundation year in 1930.
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“It is a part of human nature to fear change and the unknown, with the movement generating mixed responses. However, I hope we set a precedent on how to give the entire population of Box Hill High a say in relation to the image the school presents, and even the way it runs,” he wrote in the school newsletter.
At the time a parent at the school said while they did not oppose the change they wanted consultation.
“Anh Do might be the happiest refugee but I am not sure he has ever been to Box Hill,” the parent said.