On the map „z” goes back in „Kosciusko”
- historic name change.

Sydney Morning Herald  Friday March 7 1997

Written by Robert Wainwright.

The State's place names authority, the Geographical Names Board, will meet in Bathurst on Monday to put to rest more than 150 years of debate about the spelling of the nation's rooftop - Mount Kosciusko.
The Polish explorer Paul Strzelecki named the mountain in 1840 after the freedom fighter Tadeusz Kosciuszko but history books, maps and tourist brochures have always spelt it without the „z”.

Many now blame 19th-century bureaucrats who protected their mistake and unfairly blamed Strzelecki for it. A former Prime Minister, Mr Gough Whitlam, has pestered authorities and political leaders for more than 20 years.
He met a bureaucratic brick wall from premiers Sir Robert Askin and Mr Neville Wran in the 1970s and Mr Barrie Unsworth and Mr Nick Greiner in the '80s.

But last year the board agreed to reopen the case. It was then swamped by more than 200 submissions from NSW, interstate and overseas. The board deferred its decision at last month's meeting because it needed time to digest the welter of opinion and historical data. The deliberations could open a can of very expensive worms.
If the board decides to put back the „z”, signposts from the Gold Coast to the Snowy Mountains will have to be corrected. So will maps and textbooks.

The chairwoman of the NSW Tourism Commission's Snowy Mountains region, Ms Gay Epstein, said a quick decision was needed because new regional maps and signs were being planned.
„It is going to be a very expensive exercise because I'd hate to think how many signs we have in this area”, she said.

The tongue-twisting name Kosciuszko is pronounced in Australia as kozzy-OS-ko. However, the proper Polish pronunciation is kosh-CHOOSH-ko. Aussies often just called the mountain „Kossy” — see below and click - play audio.

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