Australia ditches colonial name for Unesco-protected Fraser Island

The tourist hotspot, known for its white sands, will now be referred to by the Aboriginal word K'gari

Members of the Butchulla people dance during the official ceremony for the renaming of Fraser Island to K'gari. EPA

Australia officially renamed a vast Unesco-protected island off its east coast on Wednesday, replacing a colonial-era name with the Aboriginal word K'gari.

Fraser Island – home to a World Heritage site – will now be called K'gari, a Butchulla-language word linked to the island's creation story.

“I'm proud that today we can officially welcome K'gari home, and reinstate the name used by traditional owners for all these years,” said Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

The island, a sandy ribbon nestled in turquoise-blue waters, is a popular destination for tourists, with more than half a million people visiting each year.

It is also prized by scientists for its large population of dingoes, native wild dogs, rich rainforests, freshwater lakes and complex dune systems.

In Aboriginal belief, K'gari was a white spirit sent by gods to form the land and seas.

A traditional “smoking ceremony” marked the name change.

Palaszczuk described the move as a step towards reconciliation and away from Australia's troubled colonial past, which saw the widespread abuse and murder of the continent's first inhabitants.

“While steps like this can't change the wrongs of the past, it goes a long way to building a future where all Queenslanders value, trust and respect each other,” she said.

The island had been named after James Fraser, a British captain whose ship was wrecked in the area in 1836.

It has become increasingly common for Australians to refer to places by Aboriginal names.

The famed Ayers Rock formation in central Australia is now better known as Uluru, while Melbourne is increasingly referred to by the name Naarm.

Australians will hold a referendum later this year to decide whether to recognise Indigenous peoples in the constitution and to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander body that would be consulted on legislation.