Queensland arts minister ignored recommendation that new theatre be named after poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal

## Summary
Photograph: Darren England/AAP View image in fullscreen The arts minister, John-Paul Langbroek, said the government put the decision of what to call the new theatre ‘in the hands of Queenslanders’. Photograph: Darren England/AAP Queensland arts minister ignored recommendation that new theatre be named after poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal Exclusive: Queensland Performing Arts Centre board nominated Oodgeroo as their preferred name for the theatre in 2024, but it was not one of the four options put to public vote by the LNP Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A Queensland government minister intervened to ensure a new theatre would not be named after Aboriginal poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, overriding the theatre’s board, according to documents obtained under right to information laws. An email from a government adviser released to Guardian Australia reveals the arts minister, John-Paul Langbroek, was “set on [the name] ‘Glasshouse Theatre’” in January 2025 but was waiting for “final sign-off from the premier”. Langbroek said the government “put the decision [of the theatre’s name] in the hands of Queenslanders”. “Queenslanders agree that Glasshouse Theatre is the best name for this iconic venue – with more than 42% of people voting for it in the public poll – which included four options for voting and allowed people to submit their own ideas too,” he said.

## Article Content
The arts minister, John-Paul Langbroek, said the government put the decision of what to call the new theatre ‘in the hands of Queenslanders’.
Photograph: Darren England/AAP
View image in fullscreen
The arts minister, John-Paul Langbroek, said the government put the decision of what to call the new theatre ‘in the hands of Queenslanders’.
Photograph: Darren England/AAP
Queensland arts minister ignored recommendation that new theatre be named after poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Exclusive:
Queensland Performing Arts Centre board nominated Oodgeroo as their preferred name for the theatre in 2024, but it was not one of the four options put to public vote by the LNP
Get our
breaking news email
,
free app
or
daily news podcast
A
Queensland
government minister intervened to ensure a new theatre would not be named after Aboriginal poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, overriding the theatre’s board, according to documents obtained under right to information laws.
The late artist’s name is also set to be
stripped from a state electorate
, in draft electoral boundaries
released by the state’s redistribution commission this week
. The LNP lobbied for the change.
An email from a government adviser released to Guardian Australia reveals the arts minister, John-Paul Langbroek, was “set on [the name] ‘Glasshouse Theatre’” in January 2025 but was waiting for “final sign-off from the premier”.
The minister formally signed off on the name on 3 February 2025 – before consultation with the board, the documents show, and months before opening it to a public vote in which
Glasshouse was declared the winner
.
View image in fullscreen
Noonuccal’s oldest grandson, Raymond Walker, described the decision as “disrespectful” but said he wasn’t surprised. He said it felt like the state government did not want to name it after an Aboriginal woman.
“For it to be put up there [as a suggestion] and then not and then just ignored, I think that’s just terrible. That’s ignorance,” he said.
“If it was named that, then we would have had so much pride in that.”
Documents show that Oodgeroo was the name preferred by the board of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
View image in fullscreen
The Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s board wanted the new theatre named after Aboriginal poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, pictured.
Photograph: Imaging Services/National Portrait Gallery
In a March 2024 email seen by Guardian Australia, the board recommended seven names to the then Labor minister, Leeanne Enoch. But it said Oodgeroo’s name “stands out in our view”, describing her as “a profoundly influential storyteller and truth-teller”.
“Her legacy endures as a person who was a beacon of resilience and wisdom, with an unwavering commitment to justice and reconciliation,” the email said.
The Crisafulli government was elected in October 2024. In February 2025, the new arts minister, Langbroek, wrote to the Qpac board and suggested Glasshouse as a name.
The Qpac chief executive, Rachel Healy, emailed back to object to the name, arguing it would be confusing since several other venues in Australia also used the name Glasshouse.
She also wrote that the Qpac Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group had recommended naming it Oodgeroo, “as an inspirational national example of Queensland creative imagination and leadership”.
Oodgeroo, who was born Kath Ruska in Brisbane in 1920 and was later known as Kath Walker before reclaiming her Aboriginal name, died in 1993 and remains one of Australia’s best known and best-read poets. Her 1964 work, We Are Going, was the first published book of verse written by an Aboriginal person, and the first published book by an Aboriginal woman. She was also an activist for Aboriginal rights: in a celebrated story, prime minister Robert Menzies once offered her a sherry during the 1967 referendum campaign. She
informed him he’d committed an offence; it was illegal to buy alcohol for an Aboriginal person in the state of Queensland
.
Her name is used for poetry competitions, university rooms, scholarships and – a least until this week – the state electorate of Oodgeroo in the Redlands.
The former minister said that the decision to overrule Qpac’s preferred name “makes it clear that this was a captain’s call”.
The LNP
asked for the Oodgeroo electorate
to be renamed last year, in its submission taken up by the Queensland Redistribution Commission in draft plans released on Tuesday. The suggested replacement name is Cleveland, for the suburb it covers.
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email
The LNP’s submission argued that electorate names should “remain intuitive and geographically grounded” because named electorates are confusing. But in the same submission, it suggested electorates named for Captain James Cook, Augustus Charles Gregory and Alfred Traeger should keep their names.
Langbroek said the government “put the decision [of the theatre’s name] in the hands of Queenslanders”.
“Queenslanders agree that Glasshouse Theatre is the best name for

---

## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
N/A

### Implications
- The LNP lobbied for the change.
- Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email The LNP’s submission argued that electorate names should “remain intuitive and geographically grounded” because named electorates are confusing.
- But in the same submission, it suggested electorates named for Captain James Cook, Augustus Charles Gregory and Alfred Traeger should keep their names.
- Its first event, The Last Ship , will open on 9 April.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers name, theatre, oodgeroo topics. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 961.