Councillor reacts to calls to rename popular beach following racism concerns
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Now 131873, have you ever been or do you live near Chinaman's Beach in Mossman? And do you think its name, Chinaman's Beach, is racist? Call me, 131873, because there are calls to change the name because it apparently has racist connotations. It's a very small beach, this one, so it's 250 metre stretch of sand in northern Mossman.

And a second generation Chinese Australian wants it renamed. Osmond Chu is his name. And he says Chinaman's Beach is hurtful and derogatory. And he told the Mossman Collective the term Chinaman is primarily used as a racist slur against people of Chinese or East Asian appearance. Look, we invited Osmond Chu on the program today. We didn't hear back. And look, he's entitled to his opinion. No one can really agree on where the original name came from, though.

And records from the New South Wales Geographical Names Board show the name was associated with nearby Chinese market gardens, which were run by members of the Chinese community in the 1800s. Some historians disagree though. They say Chinaman's Beach was named in 1977 after Chinese anglers who loved nearby fishing spots but...

My next guest, Mossman Councillor Roy Bendall, he's got even another theory on the history of the name. He's on the line for us. Councillor, thanks for your time. Thank you very much, Chris. I love your show. Thanks for coming on. So, firstly, Chinaman's Beach, where'd the name come from? Well, my family's been here for five generations, Chris. I remember my grandmother taking me down to that beach and we would collect shells which look like elongated fingernails. And they're actually...

And we'd call them Chinese fingernails. And the name has been used in this community for over 100 years, and we're pretty sure that that's where it derived from. I've never heard of Chinese market gardens in the area. There would be no reason for a market garden down there. It's a sand dune, the soil's not good, and it's surrounded by an escarpment. So they're not going to get anyone coming down to buy it off. And plus, we had no people there in the 1800s.

Because there was no bridge to the spit. Yeah, sure. So, you know, I think they're trying to justify why it's called Chinese without acknowledging that there's actually a seashell called a Chinese fingernail, and they're prevalent on the beach, and they're there to this day. Okay. So, I mean, kids go collect them all day. Sure. I mean, they're wonderful little things. Talk to me about the people who want Chinaman's Beach renamed.

Well, if you look at, you can think everything is racist if you look through the lens of racism. I'm not buying it. I mean, this area is actually very popular with our Chinese community in Mossman. In fact, I've got 12 of them coming down to my house on the weekend for a mayoral launch party. And no one has ever raised...

the issue of it being racist. In fact, they're proud of it. Well, the members I've spoken to in the community. So, you know, it's a bit like when Blacktown, when they had a referendum out there about 20 years ago, should we change the name there because it's racist? And it was the Indigenous community who rejected it.

So, I mean, I think we should embrace these names. I mean, we've got Clifton Gardens and Chowder Bay down on the other side of Mossman who's named after an American sea captain and Chowder Bay because he was from New England. Now, they were mocking him at the time, but we're not changing the name and I don't have much of Americans jumping up and down complaining about it. But, I mean, it just disappoints me. I mean, let's just embrace these things and be proud of it.

Is there any mechanism for Mossman Council or the Geographical Names Board to change the name of the beach? What I'm getting at is how realistic is a name change?

It could be done. I mean, what we would have to do is poll the whole community and then make an application to the Geographical Names Board for a name change. I mean, if you went in there saying that the community's upset because it's racist, then you'd probably have a better go. But I don't think there's an appetite for it. And there's not even an appetite within our Chinese community for this. So you've only effectively heard one complaint?

Yes. Right. And it's been called Chinaman's Beach for 100 years. Right. It's a beautiful beach, though, if anyone wants to go there. It's a kid's paradise down there. Stunning, stunning, stunning. Free barbecues. It's Mossman. Mossman's very good, and it's a wonderful place to bring children. It's safe. It's a lovely, clean beach. Councillor Bendall, before I let you go...

I think, speaking of Mossman, I remember Balmoral Beach had that Aboriginal land claim on it. I think that request was knocked back from the Crown Lands Department. Is there any update on your end?

Well, it was. Subsequently, once that one was knocked back, we've found out that there's another one beside it. So that one's going to work its way through the court. But there's an active one at the moment. It's called Little Ashton Park and it's right next to Taronga Zoo. So we had to actually take the state government to...

run through an administrative court to actually find out where all these claims are. But yes, so there's a current one going right next to Taronga Zoo between the car park and the zoo. And we're going through this process again of having to prove from when the claim was lodged that this has been in community use.

But it's actually very worrying because all these land claims are on Crown lands and our Crown lands are next to our parks or next to our beaches. So unfortunately, I think this is going to continue for a while. That's one of the reasons I'm running hard for mayor at the next election, mate, to ensure that we keep fighting those things. Councillor, appreciate you coming on. Always welcome. Thank you very much, Chris. That's Mossman Councillor Roy Bendall, 13.

Aboriginal land claims in and around the Mossman area, including Little Ashton Park next door to Taronga Zoo. That'd be worth a pretty penny.