The ACT will launch a review into the way places are named in the capital that will single out Haig Park and William Slim Drive for immediate scrutiny, amid concerns past naming decisions have commemorated "villains as heroes".
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Labor MLA Bec Cody led the push in response to letters from Indigenous and Jewish community groups, and sexual abuse survivors, who spoke of their personal distress to see some places in Canberra still named after people who had committed criminal or abhorrent acts.
But her initial suggestion that all place names in Canberra should come under review sparked backlash - and derision - as Canberrans railed against the potential cost of such a move.
Instead, after an equally fiery debate in the Assembly on Wednesday, the review passed under a watered-down remit to examine the ACT's place names committee, a volunteer advisory panel to the government, as well as the territory's current naming guidelines, last updated in 2014.
But, while residential streets would not come under review, William Slim Drive and Haig Park would be examined as a priority given they had both been raised repeatedly by the community as the cause of "significant upset".
William Slim Drive commemorates Australia's 13th governor-general, who was later accused of molesting migrant children at Fairbridge Farm in NSW during the 1950s, while Haig Park recognises supreme commander of British and imperial forces in World War I, Field Marshal Douglas Haig, whose battlefield decisions have since drawn criticism.
Ms Cody said the review presented the opportunity to correct the record of history, and so avoid repeating past mistakes.
"It's ... clear that there's a very loud resistance to having this debate in some quarters, some people don't seem to want sunlight shone on Australia's history," she said.
"But some of our heroes are more fiction than fact."
Canberra Liberal Mark Parton led calls from the Opposition against what he termed a "left wing fantasy" policy.
"It is not for us to airbrush history into something more palatable," he said.
Under such logic, Mr Parton argued a number of other prominent historical figures including former prime minister Gough Whitlam would have to be stripped of their places names for having previously expressed racist views.
During a heated exchange on the floor, Ms Cody acknowledged that "times do change", but said that for the victims of Fairbridge Farm, the drive down William Slim was an unacceptable, perhaps a daily reminder of deep pain.
Mr Parton said he trusted that in Canberra, the land of retired public servants and lobby groups, where everything from "development to drones" attracted opposition, any offending names could be dealt with by local campaigns, not a government review.
Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur backed the review, confessing it had been the cause of some amusement in her office, but she also expressed relief Ms Cody had since narrowed its scope to public place names.
With a chuckle, she questioned whether other names such as Bogan Place in Kaleen or Swinger Hill in Phillip might too be considered unfortunately named.
Unless a name was causing egregious harm, Ms Le Couteur suggested instead providing more information about the person's past - as had been done at Haig Park with the installation of an updated plaque.
"We don't want the place names committee being judge and jury," she said.
If the ACT was serious about reforming naming guidelines, Ms Le Couteur suggested commemorating more women in choices going forward, an idea backed by many in the chamber.
Jeff Brown of the ACT Place Names committee has previously flagged any review of names would be complicated, awkward work. Only two names had been changed in the capital's history, he said.
But a number of jurisdictions including Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory have moved to change place names deemed offensive in recent years.
The review will report back next June.
