“A name registered at birth remains on the NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages Register forever,” the spokesperson said. “Even if the name is formally changed.”

nice way to fuck your kid up for your 5 minutes of journalism fame there.....

I'm kind of astonished.

Why would she think the name "methamphetamine" is not in the public interest?

It seems absolutely absurd to me that she thought someone would see that and just go "nope, I'm gonna change that to john".

Obviously the agency would only choose a name in exceptional circumstances, like if mum died in childbirth and there were no surviving relatives or some such.

Also yeah, there's a bunch of processes which involve listing previous names. His birth certificate will have that name. Try applying for citizenship in UAE or South East Asia (unlikely as that may be). Or more to the point, don't use your kid in an experiment for work at all ever.