Victorian government reject plan to rename Yarra River to recognise its traditional owners

The Andrews government has dismissed a push to rename the Yarra River to recognise its traditional owners.

The view of the Yarra River from Melbourne’s Alexandra Gardens. Picture: Jason Edwards

A plan to rename the Yarra River to recognise its traditional owners has been dismissed by the Victorian government.

Acting Premier James Merlino poured water on a proposal to change the name of the Yarra to its original Wurundjeri name of Birrarung with the state government already taking steps to ensure the indigenous heritage of the river was protected.

“The Yarra is an icon of Melbourne [and] it’s close to Victorian’s hearts,” he said.

“We’ve done a lot to protect the heritage of the Yarra, to protect its indigenous and cultural importance.”

“We set up statutory authority the Birrarung Council to protect the heritage of the Yarra River into the future. We’ve got no plans to change the name.”

The plan to rename the Yarra was floated at a recent forum by the Yarra River Business Association, which also suggested building a swimming pool, The Herald Sun reports.

Acting Lord Mayor of Melbourne Arron Wood said he was open to the river being renamed but said consultation with the relevant indigenous groups must take priority in any plan to rename the Yarra.

“We know it's a real sign of respect to our Aboriginal community members and really what we should be doing is taking advice from them on any name changes,” he said.

Mr Wood said the proposal would be presented to the Aboriginal Advisory Council, the Wurundjeri Land Council as well as the council’s Aboriginal Melbourne Unit.

“We’ll work through those process and see what they think,” he said.

“It’s really critical I think that we see the indigenous voice on this one.

The name “Yarra” comes from the mistranslation of the Wurundjeri term “Yarro-yarro”, which means everflowing, with the 242km river being an important source of food and community for traditional owners.

Melbourne City Council is not responsible for the Yarra River, it maintains the land around the waterway, with the naming rights lying with the state government.