Pitt Street metro station to honour indigenous Army officer Captain Reginald Saunders

Bureaucrats recommended the new Metro station be named “Gadigal Railway Station,” but Minister David Elliott intervened to name the station after our first indigenous army officer instead.

EXCLUSIVE

A new Metro station at Pitt Street is set to be named after the first indigenous Australian to serve as a commissioned army officer, after Transport Minister David Elliott personally intervened in a departmental push to use the name “Gadigal Railway Station”.

Mr Elliott moved to overturn the proposed name in a bid to honour Captain Reginald Saunders who served in Korea and the Second World War.

The Geographical Names Board recommended the name “Gadigal Railway Station” in October last year after it was proposed by Transport for NSW and subject to a public consultation process.

Lieutenant Reg Saunders (left) and Lieutenant Tom Derrick VC DCM, congratulate each other following their graduation from the Office Cadet Training Unit at Seymour. Picture: Reproduced courtesy of the Australian War Memorial

But after taking over as Transport Minister in December, Mr Elliott intervened amid a desire to honour Captain Saunders who died in Sydney in 1990.

“Saunders evaded the Nazis in WWII, then served in New Guinea and subsequently in Korea were he distinguished himself at the Battle of Kapyong,” Mr Elliott said.

“In short, he was a hero.”

Mr Elliott wants the new station to include images of Captain Saunders and a story of his life.

“As Veterans Minister I’m concerned we haven’t honoured Reg the way we should so my vision is for the station to include a large ‘story board’ of Captain Reg Saunders MBE,” Mr Elliott said.

Construction of the new Metro station at Pitt Street in the city. Picture: Richard Dobson

The Minister said he had consulted indigenous leaders including Warren Mundine who agreed with his push to name the new station after Captain Saunders, rather than the proposed “Gadigal Railway Station”.

Mr Mundine said the “Gadigal” name would be better used in reference to something larger than a Metro station.

“For the railway station I thought it was a good idea to name it after an indigenous hero like Captain Saunders,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

Mr Mundine praised Captain Saunders for overcoming laws discriminating against indigenous people to serve as an Army officer.

“The man is just a hero and we should never forget our heroes,” he said.

Calling the Pitt Street station “Gadigal Railway Station” was one of a number of options proposed by the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council as part of the departmental consultation process.

Captain Reg Saunders was the first indigenous Australian to serve as a commissioned officer in the Army. Picture: Australian War Memorial

Metropolitan Land Council CEO Nathan Moran said the name honoured the original people of Sydney, and that it is more appropriate to honour an entire culture rather than an individual.

“We‘d suggest that you start with the culture and the people of the place, and then you look at contributions of individualism later down the track,” Mr Moran said.

However he said naming a railway station or other significant place after a prominent indigenous Australian would be “better than having some name that may attribute to an early settler, a convict, or someone within the colony”.

Construction of the underground station at Pitt Street for the new Sydney Metro line. Picture: Richard Dobson

A public consultation process received 123 submissions into the proposed “Gadigal Railway Station” name, with 72 in favour and 51 against.

The Geographical Names Board then provided the submissions to TfNSW in November but did not receive a response.

The alternative name - Mr Elliott’s proposal to name the station in honour of Captain Saunders - was formally proposed by TfNSW on February 21. If it is approved by the Geographical Names Board it will be advertised for public comment.

Originally published as Pitt Street metro station to honour indigenous Army officer Captain Reginald Saunders