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

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

A Queensland government minister intervened to ensure that a new theatre would not be named after the 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 Liberal National party lobbied for the change.