Whitsunday Islands given new identity

THE identity of the individual Whitsunday Islands will be ensured through a proposed official naming project being undertaken by the Department of Environment and Resource Management.

At present, several islands in the Whitsundays are not individually named.

The department is proposing to discontinue the use of ‘Whitsundays’ as an official locality name and replace it by creating new localities of Daydream Island, Hamilton Island, Hayman Island, Hook Island, Long Island, the Molle Isles, the Whitsunday Isles, Brampton Island, Keswick Island, the Lindeman Isles and St Bees Island.

Regional Manager for Planning and Assessment Ian Gordon said the proposal to remove ‘Whitsundays’ as a locality name does not mean that the group of islands or the region will no longer be known as the Whitsundays.

“The common usage of ‘Whitsundays’ and ‘Whitsunday Islands’ for the area will continue,” Mr Gordon said.

“The name ‘Whitsundays’ has a very high profile and a strong national and international identity as one of Australia’s premier tourist destinations, attracting visitors from all over the world.”

Mr Gordon said locality names are the official place names used for addressing and emergency services. Whereas tourism names are not official place names and can only be used for tourism purposes.

“The tourism sector will be able to continue using the general description of ‘Whitsundays’ and ‘Whitsunday Islands’ for advertising purposes.

"This place name project is not seeking to review the appropriate use of names for tourism purposes.”

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