The King Charles & Queen Camilla West Gate Tunnel Project

Modern government guidelines routinely require that the naming of places after people be restricted to people who are no longer alive. This is in most cases a sensible general rule to follow, as it avoids perceptions of inappropriate patronage, as well as avoiding causing offence to rivals of the nominee in the nominee’s field. 

The general rule, however, should not be applied so inflexibly as to overrule the time-honoured tradition of naming appropriate buildings and other features after members of our Royal Family. 

The list of examples is long, from the beginning of Australia’s history under the Crown (with the suburb of Williamstown, named after the then King William IV) right to the present day, with the Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts in Brisbane (opened in 2012 when Queen Elizabeth was still alive). The names to be bestowed upon several features of Victoria’s Big Build are and have been subject to public consultation. This has included the stations of the Melbourne Metro Project, and a public consultation is now being run as to the two tunnels which are part of the West Gate Tunnel project 

The names to be submitted must, as is usual, comply with the Geographic Names Victoria guidelines, which exclude living people.  

The Australian Monarchist League says an exception must be made to permit the continuing tradition of royal placenames, regardless of whether the particular royal is alive or deceased. This is particularly important in the case of the Sovereign, the Sovereign’s Consort, and heirs in the line of succession. 

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