[singlepic id=217 w=320 h=240 float=left]Member for Mulgrave Curtis Pitt will tomorrow be presented with a petition calling on the State Government to officially recognise the spelling of Miriwinni with two Rs.
Mr Pitt said he was contacted in May 2009 by the ‘Restore the ‘R’ in the township of Miriwinni Committee’.
“I took up the matter with the Honourable Stephen Robertson, Minister for Natural Resources who advised that the committee could proceed with a formal application under the Queensland Place Names Act 1994, after it gained the approval of the Cairns Regional Council and could demonstrate overwhelming support of local residents for the change,” Mr Pitt said.
“I advised Alan Kingston and the committee of the course of action they needed to take and offered my support to present the petition to Parliament.
“Since that time, the committee has collected some 469 signatures, evidence of the support for the change in town.
“The committee has put forward a strong argument and has collected a stack of documentary evidence including photos, postal records, invoices and bank deposit slips to add weight to their argument.
“Ann Wonga, the last surviving member of the Yidinji clan, has said that the spelling with two Rs comes from ‘Merriwinnoo’, the traditional word for mountain rock with reference to Mount Bellenden Ker.
Mr Pitt said the debate over the spelling of the town’s name has persisted for decades with most locals remembering the spelling with two Rs from their childhood.
“I am advised that the single R spelling was officially adopted in the mid 1980s at the request of the then Mulgrave Shire Council following an approach by the local community,” Mr Pitt said.
The petition will be handed over to Mr Pitt at 11.00am tomorrow at the Spirit of Babinda Hall.
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