Albury mayor Kevin Mack reacts to calls for greater historical recognition of his city's birth as place to guard against Aboriginal attacks

Kevin Mack was responding to Albury historian Bruce Pennay who this week called for recognition of the city's origin, in response to the threat of Aboriginal attacks, to be highlighted publicly.

Dr Pennay said Albury began as a military post and he would like that story aired at the War Memorial.

Cr Mack rejected use of the site for that purpose.

"The Monument is a much-loved war memorial honouring those who've served their country, and is a place of enormous cultural and historical significance to the community," he said.

RELATED STORIES:

"As such, it would not be an appropriate place to mark the history of Albury's formation as a village.

"However, council is always keen to honour the area's history, with a special focus on honouring our Aboriginal community past and present."

Cr Mack said he did not know of Dr Pennay requesting council have an artwork telling of the foundation of Albury in a riverside park.

"At this stage we are not aware of his submission but it does not suggest that it does not exist," Cr Mack said.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"We would be happy to receive further submissions and work closely with him and Indigenous elders to understand how they think this would look."

Asked if a work about the formation of Albury should be erected, Cr Mack said "consideration could be given to a historical 'story telling' of the Indigenous involvement in Albury's history, however it is not forgotten in the many displays presented in our Library Museum and the permanent installations at MAMA".

Cr Mack did not say if he supported giving acknowledgement to the Wiradjuri at Hume and Hovell memorials, but he stated the council would not raise with the NSW Geographical Names Board the issue of having Bungambrawatha alongside Albury.

"We already have a myriad of Indigenous names as markers in our community and this would not seek to achieve anything but create divisive commentary for others to undermine," he said.

Councillor David Thurley said while a Bungambrawatha-Albury name is unlikely to win official support, there should be greater use of the Aboriginal name of the area.

"We should try to somehow have a use for it, rather than just Bungambrawatha Creek, which is a pretty ordinary looking creek," he said.

He said "there was probably cultural prejudice" in it being ignored in favour of Albury at the time of naming.