Deakin University: Pressure to change name due to racist views held by Alfred Deakin

An Australian university is under pressure to change its name because the former prime minister it was named after held racist views.

Deakin University in Melbourne is named after Alfred Deakin, who was Australia’s second Prime Minister in 1903 and the country’s first Attorney General.

He helped pass the Aboriginal Protection Amendment Act of 1886, which led to the forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their families, known as the Stolen Generations.

Deakin also helped create the White Australia Policy in 1901, which limited the number of non-white migrants coming to Australia.

In 1901 Deakin controversially predicted: ‘In a century there is a good chance that Australia will be a white continent with no black or even dark skin among its inhabitants.

‘The Aboriginal race is extinct in the south and is rapidly dying out in the north and west, even where it is treated most gently.

“Other races should be excluded by legislation if they are tinted to any degree. The yellow, the brown and the copper can’t land anywhere.’

Deakin served as Prime Minister of Australia for three terms: from 1903-1904, 1905-1908 and 1909-1910. He died in 1919.

Sixteen academics from Deakin University created a seminar in 2020 entitled ‘We need to talk about Alfred Deakin and his ideal of a white Australia’, wondering why the university is named after someone with such racist views.

However, the university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Iian Martin, said a possible name change is not on the agenda.

“This is not something we’re looking at and it’s definitely not something these Indigenous leaders… are asking for,” said Professor Martin. The age.

While acknowledging Mr Deakin’s views would not be acceptable today, Prof Martin said changing the name would not help people understand past injustices.

“If we simply delete things from the past, what hope do we have of learning from the mistakes of the past,” he said.

Indigenous leaders, university staff and family members of Mr. Deakin have all been consulted by the university, Prof. Martin said.

He stressed that indigenous leaders did not want the name changed.

According to their website, Deakin University is committed to reconciliation and treaty, as well as advancing the educational aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

“All our efforts are aimed at reflecting Australia’s full history and building an inclusive future.”

Deakin University has been a leader in Indigenous education for 40 years, the vice-chancellor added.

Mr Deakin served as Prime Minister for three terms and was instrumental in Australia’s becoming a federation.

He also helped establish the Supreme Court and the Court of Reconciliation and Arbitration.