The Estella Public School sporting house named after disgraced Wagga-born Australian cricketer Michael Slater will be renamed. Photo: Estella Public School.
Wagga-born former Australian cricketer Michael Slater’s fall from grace has continued with a Wagga school opting not to recognise his name anymore.
Estella Public School came under fire last month when Region revealed that one of the school’s sporting houses was still named after Mr Slater after he’d pleaded guilty to domestic violence-related offences in April.
Since the article’s publication, parents have informed Region the name has been changed, a fact confirmed by the Department of Education.
“Estella Public School will rename its sports houses after Australian flora instead of local sports people,” a department spokesperson said.
“This follows consultation with senior school staff and a meeting with executive members of the parent and community association.”
Australian flora includes native plants such as waratah, eucalypts and banksia. The department has not yet chosen the name of the plant that will replace Slater House.
Michel Slater, who grew up in Wagga and Junee, represented Australia in more than 100 international matches. He scored more than 5000 runs, including 14 centuries in an international career that spanned eight years. Slater then made the transition to commentary for Channel 9 before switching to Channel 7 in 2018.
Since 2021, Mr Slater has faced multiple legal issues, criminal charges and mental health challenges. In April he pleaded guilty to several counts of domestic assault and stalking charges.
In 2024 Wagga Council decided to rename an oval named after him at Bolton Park, arguing this sent a message to the community that the council did not condone domestic violence in any scenario. The council has still not decided on a replacement name.
The issue has divided the Wagga community, with some saying that his considerable sporting achievements are still valid, while others claim he no longer deserves the special recognition.
A poll of Region readers indicated some 55 per cent of respondents wanted Estella Public to change the Slater House name.
Wagga Wagga City Councillor Amelia Parkins, who voted in favour of changing the name of Michael Slater Oval at Bolton Park, agrees with the NSW Department of Education’s decision.
“I think it’s a good outcome. Council made basically the same decision regarding Michael Slater Oval last year,” Ms Parkins said.
“We’re not taking away from his sporting greatness, but we are trying to look after future generations, which is very important.
“I think it’s only people, sort of my generation and older, that will remember him playing cricket.
“It’s not the kids who are in primary school now. So the links that people from the younger generations would have with him would be for all of those wrong reasons. That’s what he’s in the media for at the moment, and they are not the reasons that we want to be calling out for this person as a role model.”
Ms Parkins floated the idea that Michael Slater Oval and other locations or groups using his name should adopt other local talents’ names, including some of Wagga’s female sporting heroes.
“I think when we were talking about renaming the Michael Slater Oval, some of the ideas for names that were thrown around were Jada Whyman or Sally Shipard, being like more contemporary sports people that the younger generations can relate to.
“I think it is a more appropriate conversation to have. Or, you know, flora and fauna are also very beautiful.”
