Source : the age
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has escalated his intervention in a contest over Welcome to Country ceremonies by saying they should not be conducted on Anzac Day because most veterans did not want them included.
Dutton’s comments will inflame the debate that has unfolded since far-right hecklers disrupted ceremonies at Anzac Day services in Perth and Melbourne on Friday. Both Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the agitators, who included known neo-Nazis, and called for respect last week.
But Dutton changed his tone on Monday, latching onto the culture war to take a strong stance on Welcome to Country while the Coalition’s agenda on immigration and road taxes were being called into question over conflicting statements from frontbenchers.
Dutton speaks to the media in Nelson Bay, north of Newcastle, on Monday.Credit: James Brickwood
He also criticised Qantas’ practice to acknowledge Indigenous lands on its flights, saying they were over the top.
Asked at a press conference on Monday if an Anzac Day dawn service was an event significant enough for Welcome to Country, the opposition leader said it was not.
“No would be my answer to that. It is ultimately for the organisers of the events and they can make the decision based on their membership,” he said.
“But listening to a lot of veterans in the space, Anzac Day is about our veterans … I think the majority view would be that they don’t want it on that day.”
Labor sought to avoid the debate after Dutton called the ceremonies divisive at the Sunday night leaders’ debate. Albanese saying that Welcome to Country ceremonies were a sign of respect but should be held at the discretion of event organisers.
Labor campaign spokesman Jason Clare called on Australians to “remember where all of this began” as the debate continued on Monday. “On Friday, it sort of spawned out of the actions of neo-Nazis interrupting an Anzac Day dawn service,” he said.
“I don’t think any of us want to find ourselves on the same side of this argument as neo-Nazis.”
Coalition spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, backed Dutton’s call on Welcome to Country being overdone.
Speaking on Sky News, Price said they should be reserved for special occasions such as when parliament resumes.
“My position has always been that we have absolutely overdone Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of country, especially when they become politicised sort of statements that are divisive, as opposed to you know, feeling like it is a welcome,” she said.
Arguments over the place of the Welcome to Country ceremony have increased on social media, in Sky News segments and Australian Parliament over the past year, as part of an “anti-woke” backlash that has followed the Voice referendum and re-election of US President Donald Trump.
The Welcome to Country has been performed in modern Australia since the 1970s and springs from ancient Indigenous customs. It is intended as a welcome to tribal lands, similar to that which Indigenous groups gave each other as they moved across the country in centuries past.
A Welcome to Country ceremony, performed by an Indigenous elder on their ancestral lands, is different to an Acknowledgement of Country. These are often given by non-Indigenous Australians at the beginning of meetings or speeches, or when Qantas pilots land at Australian airports.
Welcomes have been part of Anzac Day for more than a decade, says Australian National University historian Frank Bongornio. He said the first march organised by Aboriginal ex-service personnel was in 1985.
“It’s about the growing recognition of First Nations people in the armed forces all the way back to World War I,” he said.
Boonwurrung custodian Caroline Martin said on Monday that Welcome to Country was about more than tokenism.
“It’s not just about a welcome. It’s an honouring of 4000 generations of a lived culture that continues to be on this country,” she said.
The National RSL’s website suggests the order of any Anzac services include an Acknowledgement of country or a Welcome.
The separate NSW division of the RSL said Acknowledgement of Country was a significant part of all ceremonies.
“Including an Acknowledgement of Country in Anzac Day ceremonies is a respectful and appropriate recognition of the enduring role of Indigenous Australians in our proud military history,” a spokesperson said.
“Importantly, it also recognises the deep connection that Traditional Custodians have to the lands on which commemorative events are taking place.”
The role of Welcome to Country in sporting events has also proved controversial.
Victorian Aboriginal elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin told ABC radio on Monday that Melbourne Storm’s CEO told her that performing a Welcome to Country at Friday’s Anzac Day NRL match would be “inappropriate”.
A club spokesman said “we acknowledge and accept the timing and miscommunication on Friday has caused damage and we apologise for this”.
