What was already a contentious issue bubbled to the surface following Melbourne’s Anzac Day dawn service ceremony last weekend.
A group of men attending the event booed and shouted during an Indigenous “Welcome to Country” by Bunurong elder Mark Brown, which sparked condemnation.
What is the Welcome to Country?
Started in the 1970s, the Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country are ceremonies performed by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander elders at public events.It has become a topic of debate with those in favour saying it’s a mark of respect for tradition and culture, while those against say it has lost its relevance and meaning through overuse.
“Welcome to Country is delivered by traditional owners, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have been given permission from traditional owners, to welcome visitors to their country,” Reconciliation Australia says.
Many supporters of the Welcome, such as former MP Ken Wyatt, have emphasised the cultural meaning of the ceremony over the political, but there are proponents who say it has a place in activism.
Labor’s Support
Delivering her own Welcome to Country at a Labor rally in Sydney the day after Anzac Day, former Labor MP and Indigenous minister, Linda Burney, made one point clear: that a Welcome to Country wasn’t just a courtesy, it was about a “continuing struggle for equality and a long history of dispossession.”“Understanding our history and geography is an intrinsic part of the telling of the story and finding the truth,” Burney said.
Her comments were applauded by party faithful at the rally, including Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
On April 29, Labor Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told ABC News Breakfast that her party would not change their level of support for the ceremonies, which can often cost thousands.
“The government has a position that this is a measure of respect to support Welcome to Country,” she said.
“I think the issue that Peter Dutton has raised in the last couple of days is to distract away from the train wreck of a campaign they’re having.”
Wyatt Denies Ceremonies are Political
Former Liberal Party minister and Indigenous Australian Ken Wyatt told ABC Radio he didn’t know “what the contentious issue” was with Welcome to Country ceremonies.He doesn’t believe they are political.
“I don’t know what the contentious issue is, and whether people, as individuals, have perception that it’s political as opposed to welcoming,” he said.
“That becomes the matter that they raise with politicians, who then don’t go back and do their own work in terms of finding out what does Welcome to Country really mean, and distinguishing it from Acknowledgement to Country.”
Wyatt likened calls for the Welcome to be scrapped to calling for Anzac Day to be cancelled.
“I’m disappointed with anybody who doesn’t take the time to understand the importance of friendship, welcoming and acknowledging that you are part of the community and you’re being welcomed into somebody’s home country, home region, and to politicise it just adds to the division,” he said.
Australians Being Divided by Race: One Nation
One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson says it’s the ceremonies themselves that are dividing Australians, as well as Labor’s $400 million (US$257 million) failed push for a constitutional change to include an Indigenous “Voice” to Parliament.“It was deeply disrespectful to force these ceremonies onto Anzac Day, a sacred day to honour those who fought and died for Australia,” she wrote on X.
“But this isn’t just about one day. Australians are tired of being divided by race at every event, every gathering, every opportunity.
“The overwhelming rejection of Anthony Albanese’s Voice referendum sent a clear message: Australians reject race-based division. Welcome to Country ceremonies are just more of the same, divisive politics that drive Australians apart, not bring us together.”
Hanson was one of the first Australian politicians to speak out against the ceremonies, believing they make Australians feel like outsiders in their own country.
“On Anzac Day, things boiled over. Instead of listening to the many decent Australians who are simply trying to be heard, the media and politicians are smearing everyone who spoke up as extremists, which simply is not true,” she said.
Libertarian and Cumberland Councillor Steve Christou said the Anzac Day interruptions were not the start of the debate, but the last straw for a frustrated population.
“People are sick to death of having Welcome to Country ceremonies thrust upon them and shoved down their throat,” he said.
A Time and Place
While normally an issue tackled by minor right-leaning parties, the Coalition has in recent years begun criticising the ubiquity of the ceremony.Shadow Home Affairs spokesman James Paterson told the ABC there was a genuine place for Welcome to Country, but believed their overuse had rendered them “tokenistic and insincere.”
“Generally speaking, often it has been overdone,” he said.
“The opening up of parliament is an appropriate place to do it but when you’re having a Zoom meeting probably not everybody in the call needs to do it.
“When you’re having a conference, once is probably enough, not every single speaker.”
Paterson said a Coalition government would not dictate on Welcome to Country ceremonies, adding that Indigenous contributions to the armed services was appropriate.
“My view is that one of the meaningful and appropriate things that does happen on Anzac Day is acknowledgement of Indigenous service in the Australian Defence Force, because the history in our country is that there are Indigenous people who signed up to fight for our country when frankly our country didn’t treat them very well as citizens at the time,” he said.
