Opposition leader Peter Dutton has claimed Welcome to Country ceremonies are "overdone" and should only be used for ceremonial and important events.
In the final of the four leaders' debates between Mr Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, held Sunday evening, questions on the cost of living gave way to both leaders being asked to comment on Welcome to Country ceremonies.
The traditional welcome has been thrown into the culture war spotlight again after the booing of an Elder at an Anzac Day ceremony in Melbourne on Friday.
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Mr Dutton, who condemned the booing, calling Anzac Day a "sacred day," pivoted when asked about the ceremonies more broadly. He said they should be reserved for important events, claiming they were dividing the country in the same way the Voice referendum did.
"I think there is, and people have said this to me as we've moved across the country, there is a sense across the community that it's [Welcome to Country] overdone," he told the 7News debate.
"For the opening of Parliament, fair enough, it's respectful to do. But for the start of every meeting at work or the start of a football game, I think a lot of Australians think it's overdone, and it cheapens the significance of what it was meant to do.
"It divides the country. Not dissimilar to what the Prime Minister did with the Voice."
In response, the PM said he viewed a Welcome to Country as a "matter of respect", but argued it was up to the organisers of any event whether they held one.
"We have a great privilege from my perspective of sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture on earth," Mr Albanese said.
"And when I welcome international visitors to Parliament House, you know what they want to see: that culture."
Noting the dual national anthems of both Australia and New Zealand played during Anzac Day ceremonies over the weekend, the PM added: "The New Zealand national anthem… [is] said in Māori language as well as in English, in recognition of the fullness and richness of the history of New Zealand."
At the end of the debate, a panel of 60 undecided voters gave the PM the win convincingly, with 50 per cent voting for him, 25 per cent for Mr Dutton and 25 per cent saying they were undecided.
On Friday night, Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin was aghast after the Melbourne Storm cancelled a Welcome to Country at an NRL game she was scheduled to perform at the last minute.
The controversy came after hecklers - allegedly led by a reputed neo-Nazi - shouted over Bunurong Elder Uncle Mark Brown at the city's Shrine of Remembrance on Friday morning as he delivered a Welcome to Country for Anzac Day.
The Welcome to Country has been criticised by conservatives for its supposed over-use, with Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, recently telling Sky News that "everyone's getting sick of welcome to country".
"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.
Writing in The Age over the weekend, Wiradjuri woman and Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, Jessa Rogers, said a Welcome to Country "does not take anything away from Australia or Australians".
"It does nothing to divide us, in fact, I would argue it unites us, and is something that recognises that every one of us, whatever our relationship to the land we are on, has responsibilities and relationships to maintain," she said.
"To mock or reject a Welcome to Country is to deny the enduring sovereignty of Aboriginal peoples and the profound connection we hold to our Country. It is to misunderstand what is being offered: a generous gesture of cultural welcoming."
On Sunday evening, Mr Dutton said the country was "aghast" with the $450 million spent on a referendum which "sought to divide us over the Voice debate on heritage and on cultural grounds" arguing while Australians all wanted to see better outcomes for First Nations people, they had gone backwards under the Labor government.
After reaffirming he won't stand in front of the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander flags if he becomes PM, the Opposition leader focused on education, a long-time fixation of the Coalition, who argue "woke" and indoctrinated language has become apparent in schools.
Both leaders said they did not want to change the date of Australia Day from January 26, with Mr Dutton arguing schools needed to stop teaching students a version of the nation's history which "says that our children should be ashamed of being Australian".
"We've made mistakes in our history, there's no question about that. But we can't live with that shame forever," he said.
