Everyday Sunshine Motorway commuters are met with “welcome to the Sunshine Coast”, “reduce speed” and “koalas crossing” signs on their journey. But there is one spot that has caused tension among Peregian Springs locals for years, the infamous Murdering Creek Road.
Located at Lake Weyba south of Noosa, the lake’s banks attracted animals such as kangaroos and escaped cattle owned by European settlers as well as acting as a gathering place for the Gubbi Gubbi community. Once English colonists had taken over Lake Weyba and its surrounding areas, life became increasingly more difficult for the Gubbi Gubbi people. Settlers did not take kindly to them hunting their fish and cattle.
The Gubbi Gubbi continued to hunt on the land as they had done for years and, as a result, the settlers lured the Aboriginals to the lake banks in 1862, ambushing and murdering 25 Gubbi Gubbi fishermen. Murdering Creek massacre historian Ray Gibbons said it was the manager of the Yandina station, Walter Taplock Chippindall, the local police and other European settlers who ambushed and murdered the men. Murdering Creek Road was named after this massacre.
Debates over whether the road should be renamed have been in circulation for years, becoming more prevalent since the recent shift of Fraser Island to K’gari. The community remains divided on the issue. Many believe the name should be changed to respect the Aboriginal community’s wishes while others say it should remain to remind people of Australia’s racist past.
The Intergovernmental Committee for Geographical Names prepared a policy guideline for the recording and use of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander place names, highlighting the rights they have. However, the document also highlights the difficulties when attempting to change the name of a place.
Gubbi Gubbi Dyungungoo group (an Aboriginal not-for-profit organisation) secretary Aunty Christine said people “do not have the time to go about changing it” while also expressing her disappointment in the local Council for not supporting the wishes of the people of Peregian Springs.
“It’s not even just the Aboriginals, the residents don’t like it either,” she said. “We don’t have a lot to do with the Council, they don’t talk on behalf of the Aboriginal community.” Aunty Christine recalled numerous times residents have been lobbying for a change but “Council just ignore it, it’s too hard to change a road”.
In the 1860s the area now known as Murdering Creek was simply a small tributary of Lake Weyba. This saltwater lake acted as an essential hunting ground for the Gubbi Gubbi people, providing shallow waters to hunt fish species such as bream, whiting, stingrays and flatheads – easy targets for the spears of these skilled fishermen. Today Murdering Creek Road is located in the affluent suburb of Peregian Springs, housing close to 10,000 people.
A Facebook comment thread in the local community group prompted a variety of responses. Many argued the Peregian Springs road should continue to be called Murdering Creek Road for educational purposes. “Let’s not rename it!” Tina Dedekind said. “That is exactly what happened there, and we need to be reminded of how shameful that is. Australians are quick to try and diminish their racist past.”
Sarah Jean said she thought the name should be kept, reminding people of the shamefulness. Former Peregian Springs resident Rose Casey also felt it was important to keep the name for educational purposes.
“When we moved to the area the name immediately stuck out for obvious reasons, this then forced me to learn about what happened there and that wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the name,” she said. “I think it’s really important that we don’t change names like Murdering Creek Road so we can continue to learn about what our Indigenous communities went through, as opposed to pretending it didn’t happen.”
Brett Hughes said the name should not be changed. “Stop trying to delete history,” he said. Craig Weston agreed. “Murdering has been Murdering Creek for hundreds of years,” he said. Let’s not get all politically correct, it’s called Murdering Creek for a well-known reason.”
A small portion of comments supported the decision to rename the road, recognising the impact it would have on the local Aboriginal community. “From a young age we knew why it was called Murdering Creek Rd and honestly never thought much more of it, we used to go horse riding out there,” Nadine Kennedy said. “Now as an adult and learning much more about the history I do find the name a bit more confronting as well as the big sign on the road now where you turn off.
“I think a related Indigenous name for the area would be better now as it really is very beautiful in there. A sign or plaque on the roadside or something could be made to read a little about the area so true history isn’t lost.”
Kate Emma said she thinks the opinions of the local Indigenous community matter more than hers. For now, Murdering Creek Road’s name remains, acting as a reminder to people of the suffering Australia’s traditional landowners experienced at the hands of colonisers.
This article is part of a larger project called Where What Why. You can find the whole collection of stories about places and their names here.
