Peter Dutton strongly condemned the actions of neo-Nazis attending the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne on Friday, who heckled and booed during the Welcome to Country ceremony.
But Mr Dutton and Liberal frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price have previously backed scaling back the use of Welcome to Country ceremonies, with Senator Price warning people are “sick if it”.
Amid the Shrine clash and a fresh furore over claims the NRL’s Melbourne Storm “cancelled” the welcome at AAMI Park on Friday the topic is back on the agenda.
Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy was scheduled to perform the service at the match before she was informed just hours before kick-off the Welcome to Country ceremony was no longer wanted.
“We were all just dumbfounded,” Aunty Joy said.
“We would dearly love to be out there, but they’ve broken our hearts.”
A Storm statement insisted there was “a miscommunication of expectations regarding the use (of) Welcome to Country at Melbourne Storm events throughout the year”.
“We acknowledge and accept the timing and miscommunication was not ideal and we have spoken to the groups concerned this afternoon,’’ a spokesman said.
How do you feel about Welcome to Country ceremonies?
Former prime minister Tony Abbott, federal opposition leader Peter Dutton and National Party leader David Littleproud have all indicated support for a winding back of the tradition.
Speaking at a Voice to parliament No campaign event in 2023, Mr Abbott said he is “getting a little bit sick of Welcomes to Country because it belongs to all of us, not just to some of us”.
“And I’m getting a little bit tired of seeing the flag of some of us flown equally with the flag of all of us,’’ he said.
“And I just think that the longer this goes on, the more divisive and the more difficult and the more dangerous that it’s getting now.”
Mr Dutton has also expressed some reservations over Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country ceremonies.
“It’s a respectful way to acknowledge the Indigenous heritage of our country,’’ he said.
“But I do get the point that when you go to a function and there’s an MC who I think appropriately can do recognition, you then get the next five or ten speakers who each do their own Acknowledgement to Country, and frankly, I think it detracts from the significance of the statement that’s being made,” he told 2GB radio.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton appeared alongside the Australian and Aboriginal flag as he attended a Channel 7 Lest We Forget live TV broadcast held on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House. Picture: Richard Dobson / Newswire
Price: ‘Everyone’s getting sick of it’
Senator Price has described the tradition as “divisive”.
“There is no problem with acknowledging our history, but rolling out these performances before every sporting event or public gathering is definitely divisive,” she said.
“It’s not welcoming, it’s telling non-Indigenous Australians ‘this isn’t your country’ and that’s wrong. We are all Australians and we share this great land.”
She said “around the country” there were some people whose “only role, their only source of income, is delivering Welcome to Country”.
“Everyone’s getting sick of Welcome to Country,’’ she said.
Victoria Police have confirmed the man who led the booing in Melbourne expected to be charged on summons with offensive behaviour.
“There is no place in Australia for what occurred in Melbourne,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.
“A neo-Nazi disrupting Anzac Day is abhorrent, un-Australian, and disgraceful. The people responsible must face the full force of the law.”
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Picture Thomas Lisson / NewsWire
Why Peter Dutton won’t display Aboriginal flags
But Peter Dutton has also declared he will not display the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander flags during press conferences if he is elected prime minister, arguing the practice “divides people unnecessarily”.
“I’m very strongly of the belief that we are a country united under one flag and if we’re asking people to identify with different flags, no other country does that, and we are dividing our country unnecessarily,” he told Sky News.
“We should have respect for the Indigenous flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag, but they are not our national flags.”
Mr Dutton has already adopted the practice of not standing in front of the Torres Strait Islander flag.
“The fact is that we should stand up for who we are, for our values, what we believe in,” he said.
“We are united as a country when we gather under one flag, which is what we should do on Australia Day.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took to adding to the flag count when he does press conferences. (Photo by MIKE BOWERS / AFP)
PM’s view on flags
Three years ago, in his first press conference as prime minister, Anthony Albanese made a quiet statement by installing both the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags next to the Australian flag before embarking on the ill-fated referendum.
“We didn’t make a fuss, we didn’t put out a media release … we just did it,” Mr Albanese said.
“We have flags that represent our entire nation. It’s an opportunity to speak about our full history.”
Labor frontbencher Patrick Gorman, the assistant minister to the Prime Minister, had previously explained the significance of the change under Mr Albanese.
“To some, this change may have appeared insignificant,” Mr Gorman said.
“To others it instantly represented another step towards greater inclusion.”
On seeing all three flags behind the Prime Minister of Australia, the former minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, said she got a lump in her throat.
“The thoughtfulness, the nod to respect (and) the inclusivity of the gesture was something everyone noticed and really appreciated,” she reflected.
“But they do. Because symbols, however small, always represent something bigger.
“In this case, they represented renewal, a fresh start, and the Albanese Government’s deep desire to build stronger foundations with First Nations people.”
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