On the morning of Saturday 9th November, a lake deeply cherished by its local community, was abruptly renamed ‘Guru Nanak Lake’, causing widespread disapproval.
In their media release, the Allan Government noted that this move to rename the lake followed ‘consultation with key Sikh community leaders’ and ‘traditional owners’ and is aimed at celebrating Victoria’s Sikh community – a community that has ‘important contributions’ to our richly diverse state.
This renaming was consequently met with backlash from the local community and a petition, that now has more than 7000 signatures, was started to “Stop Berwick Springs Name Change”.
Michael Ball, a local Narre Warren resident, voiced his concern in an interview on 3AW. Ball noted that the renaming of the lake sets an alarming precedent for the government’s ‘Name a Place’ campaign – the concerning potential consequences of such a change, where communities of other faiths are bound to start advocating for name changes to their own religious leaders.
Ironically, this move by the Allan Labour Government to embrace our cultural diversity has been termed as nothing but ‘divisive’ and ‘outrageous’ by many.
In an exclusive interview with Bharat Times, Michael Ball reiterated his concerns about the name change.
As a local resident, Ball takes pride in being from Berwick Springs and takes out time from his days to go and clean up around the area regularly and likes to stay informed about any discussions occurring regarding potential events/projects.
Rightly, Ball has mentioned that not only were locals not consulted or even notified about the name change, but local residents were not even invited to the renaming ceremony.
The first locals heard of this new name was not until the erection of a temporary sign informing them of the lake’s new name.
The sign noted that permanent signage will be developed ‘in consultation with Traditional Owners, Sikh communities, City of Casey, and Melbourne Water’.
It seems the Allan Government may be able to spare some time to discuss signage development with the community, but perhaps consultations regarding the new name itself was just too far out of their comfort zone.
Liberal Member for Berwick Brad Battin organised a community gathering on the issue, with hundreds attending to express their disappointment with the government for not having followed proper procedure. He also raised the issue in the State Parliament.
After the petition to “Stop Berwick Springs Name Change” gained widespread support immediately, a rival petition was created as an “Appeal on behalf of entire Australian Multicultural Communities”.
Michael Ball said that he was “really disappointed” with how this later petition has been worded. He expanded on this to say that the rival petition shows a “lack of empathy, lack of respect, and a lack of community spirit”.
Rival petitioners should “respect that the community hasn’t been consulted”.
Bharat Times tried to get in contact with the rival petitioners but received no response.
The second petition has made the following claims:
- That this renaming is actually a naming ceremony, as the lake did not have a name before being called Guru Nanak Lake.
- That the ‘naming’ of the lake was done after consultations with Bunurong Land Council, City of Casey, Geographic Names Victoria, the Victorian Multicultural Commission, Melbourne Water, and Emergency Management Victoria.
City of Casey Council issued a statement on 18 November 2024 which states clearly that Council was not involved in the naming of the lake.
Bharat Times contacted the Victorian Multicultural Commission to understand their contribution in the naming of Guru Nanak Lake, but received a response that failed to confirm the Commission’s involvement.
In addition, Michael Ball took time to reiterate his acknowledgement of the Sikh community and Guru Nanak Dev Ji, and said that he has “great respect for the work that they do”.
“But the issue here is not so much the who, it’s the how this has happened”
Ball extended his concerns to the Sikh community,
“I feel for the Sikh community … this should be a joyous occasion for them and they should be celebrating, but they’ve found themselves in the middle of a storm because of how the government has gone about this”.
Ball will now be heading an appeal process and noted that residents most definitely want the original name to be reinstated,
“Afterwards, it’s up to the Government to apologise to the Sikh community … and for the mess they’ve created”.