It’s a Fraser Island Land Grab!

First, the name of this beautiful island was changed from Fraser Island to K’gari in 2023, although I’m not going to be calling it that, at least not for the time being. According to the Queensland Department of Resources: “The island’s new name pays respect to the thousands of years of Butchulla tradition…” I believe that respect is earnt. From what I see going on on Fraser Island, respect has gone out the window (I’ll get to that soon), so why should we use the traditional name as a sign of respect? Although, I’m open to changing my mind if relations and attitudes improve. Apparently, the name is pronounced “Gurri” – the ‘K’ is silent. Why would a people who never had a writing system include a silent K? It doesn’t make any sense, linguistically, apart from making our lives difficult. There’s actually a website called, “A Sign of Respect”: “A Sign of Respect is a simple way to show respect for First Nations Peoples in your neighbourhood.” Basically, they want you to buy a physical sign for lik