Deakin University’s arguable misremembering of Alfred Deakin

Deakin University in Victoria, Australia is facing the issue of addressing the ambiguous legacy of its namesake: Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia.

Alfred Deakin was an Australian politician and served as the second Prime Minister of Australia for three terms from 1903 to 1910. By helping build the basic national government structure, Deakin is considered one of the founding fathers of the movement for Federation.

The university was named after Alfred Deakin in 1974 in recognition of his legislative legacy of passing federal laws and establishing federal institutions, as well as his association with the area as a Victorian politician.

Alfred Deakin is remembered and mentioned in the media for his most significant legacy that can be seen in the nation of Australia, while his racism and central role in promoting the White Australia Policy that is commonly known among researchers and historians is often actively forgotten.

In 1901, the federal government passed Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 drafted by Alfred Deakin. This marked the commencement of White Australia Policy which stopped all non-European immigration particularly Asian people into the country to keep Australia ‘British’. Dr Christopher Mayes as a research fellow in Alfred Deakin Institute at Deakin University, said Deakin believed that Chinese and Indian population should be staying in their own countries.

 As a colonial nationalist, Deakin actively pursued racial exclusion in the radical form of the White Australia Policy and considered it as a reasoned policy that went into the roots of national life. Dr Mayes said Deakin’s racist ideas were part of the establishment of Australian federation.

Same as Australia does, the university remembers Alfred Deakin as a respected Liberal politician, including remaining silent on the university’s biographies when it comes to Deakin’s ‘White Australia’, having libraries, institutes, scholarships and professorships named after Deakin, and using Deakin’s image in art and merchandise to create an aesthetic that disregards the past.

In 2019, Deakin University held a special event commemorating the 100 ^th  anniversary of Alfred Deakin’s death, in which Vice-Chancellor Professor Iain Martin delivered the speech on Deakin’s legacy 100 years on. Professor Martin said Alfred Deakin was a polymath, and the university would live up to his impressive character and achievements, without mention of Deakin’s racist ideals.

Dr Mayes said as far as he knew, the university began to scrutinise Deakin’s mixed legacy until 2020. Under the second wave of COVID-19 in Victoria, on 7 July 2020, in calling for national unity, then Treasurer Josh Frydenberg quoted remarks from Alfred Deakin “it will be a union that will endure” providing “perpetual security for the peace, freedom and progress of the people of Australia”. This invoked Deakin’s racist words “unity of Australia is nothing if it does not imply a united race”.

Alongside the increased racism against Asians in the wake of COVID-19, the university initiated a conversation with the wider Deakin University community about how to understand and respond to Deakin’s full legacy.

The conversation organised by Alfred Deakin’s Legacy Working Group and chaired by Dr Mayes in 2020 acknowledged that Deakin’s values are so incompatible with those embodied in the university today, and his legacy of racism and ‘White Australia’ continue to shape our communities.

According to Dr Mayes, the university management believes that the name of Deakin could be a bad brand. When it comes to the use of a shameful name, Dr Mayes said the university feels regretful about this.

“I think it’s (the university) regretful, I’m not sure whether there’s something it should be ashamed of or about… It’s shameful if we ignore history and his (Deakin’s) full legacy, then that would be a troubling thing.”

At 2019 UNESCO Chair Oration hosted by Deakin University, Professor Marcia Langton began with quotes from Alfred Deakin “In another century the probability is that Australia will be a white continent without…”, and she joked “you don’t have to change the name.”

Dr Mayes said the university could have a name after Deakin, if there is a full account of who he was and what he did. He also said it is difficult to change the name of the university, but what is more important is coming up with a creative way in response to the past.

“That’s not really a moral question of whether we should and could change the name, there’re other things we can do, such as the university could give a full account of his (Deakin’s) racist ideas, his racism influence on Australian society rather than ignoring that. It could be a forefront of research on anti-racism.”

Dr Mayes further said the university is missing a creative way to deal with Deakin’s mixed legacy.

The open conversation about history, heritage and racism is also beginning at other Australian universities with names bearing the burden by their namesake. Professor Richard Howitt and Dr Leanne Holt from Macquarie University that bears shameful dimension by its namesake, said simply renaming the institution will not reinstate Indigenous culture in the landscape or on the university campus, the fundamental change will only come when the university critically teaches the ambiguous legacy of its namesake and takes responsibility for wider transformation of higher education and Australian society.

Professor Langton said “without meaningful constitutional recognition Australia remains trapped in Deakin’s idea of ‘Australia for the White Man’.”

For Deakin University, there is still a need to better address Alfred Deakin’s legacy of racism to tackle injustice and promote equal opportunity, and commit to education as a foundation for multicultural Australia.