Monday 19 September 2022 02:32 AM Dan Andrews renaming Moorandah Hospital after The Queen sparks backlash trends now
Daniel Andrews' plan to change the name of a hospital to honour The Queen has backfired with some of his biggest fans.
The Victorian Premier announced he would rebuild Moorandah Hospital in Melbourne's east in a $1 billion tribute to Her Majesty, if reelected in November.
'The new Queen Elizabeth II Hospital will rebuild and refurbish the Maroondah Hospital from the ground up,' he said.
Mr Andrews said the change was 'a mark of respect to her unwavering commitment to healthcare and our community'.
However, the announcement was met with sharp criticism from Aboriginal activists and left-leaning voters because the hospital's current name is an indigenous word.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews (pictured) wants to rename a Melbourne Hospital in honour of The Queen
Lidia Thorpe took aim at Mr Andrews saying to rename the hospital would be an 'insult' to First Nations people
'Maroondah' means 'throwing leaves' in the local Aboriginal dialect and is the name of the local council in which the hospital sits.
Indigenous author Claire G Coleman gave Mr Andrews the benefit of the doubt and offered to explain the problem with renaming the hospital to him.
'Hi Daniel, you don't know me but I would like to offer to speak to you in person regarding why changing the name of a hospital from an Aboriginal word to the name of a dead colonising monarch is a really bad idea. Get your people to contact my people,' she wrote on Twitter.
Controversial indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe also weighed in to tell the premier 'this is not what treaty looks like'.
'Maroondah is a Woiwurrung word meaning leaf, which symbolises Maroondah's green environment. What an insult to now colonise us, again,' she wrote.
Mr Andrews is a strong proponent of a treaty between indigenous Australians and the government and is
