Whadjuk Noongar Elder Di Ryder says she expected the booing during her Welcome to Country at Anzac Day dawn services in Boorloo/Perth, but will not be deterred into silence.
An Army veteran of 20 years and community leader, Aunty Di was booed while delivering the Welcome to Country on Saturday, in scenes mirrored at services in Melbourne and Sydney involving Bunurong Elder Mark Brown and Ray Minniecon.
Speaking to 102.5 ABC Radio on Monday, Aunty Di said the booing was distracting, beginning when she said "welcome to Noongar country" and growing louder as she outlined her military service, but she knew "I'm here for a reason".
"The reason was to welcome people to Noongar Boodja and that's what I stood firm with," she said.
Aunty Di said she had a right to deliver the welcome as both a veteran and a Noongar Elder, noting, "for me, that was the thing, I should have been able to be there without being booed".
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Asked if it hurt to hear, Aunty Di said: "No, not really. Because I'd been through it last year, and it threw me last year, and I thought this year...I'm going to stand tall. I'm here because I need be here to welcome people here."
When she was asked whether she expected the booing, the Order of Australia recipient was unequivocal.
"Yes, I was," she said.
"It's just the way things go. As an Aboriginal person, you just accept that this is the way that things will go until we make a stand, like the RSL did on Saturday by saying we will not be bullied."
After her speech, RSL WA chief executive Stephen Barton condemned the hecklers.
"Di, on behalf of RSL and veteran community, I offer my heartfelt thank you for that acknowledgement to country," he said. "It [the booing] was one of the most disgraceful things I have ever heard."
He added: "To our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in WA, we will continue to acknowledge country. We will not be bullied."
In the lead-up to the services, anti-immigration group Fight for Australia used social media to urge supporters to attend and oppose Welcome to Country ceremonies. In WA, Police issued at least 15 move-on notices to the disruptors at Kings Park and in Busselton.
Aunty Di told ABC Radio said she was "mortified" the booing occurred on Anzac Day, which she said is about honouring those who made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as families whose loved ones returned changed by war.
"That day is sacred to all of us," she said.
"To have that happen — the booing — whether it was about a Welcome to Country, or just booing, was so disrespectful that I can't put into words how I felt... ."
Speaking on the same program, RSL national president Peter Tinley said the behaviour of those who booed was "disgusting".
"I want to apologise as national president of the RSL to Di Ryder and every other Indigenous person that was basically assaulted for being Australian and having been proud of their heritage on a day when we should be inclusive of everybody's heritage, particularly First Nations people," he said.
He urged people that if they see "racism around, you've got to fight it where you find it".
"And if somebody next to you is booing and carrying on, you get the police's attention and you call them out," Mr Tinley said.
Aunty Di said some people "don't want to know" the history of Aboriginal people serving in the armed forces, despite First Nations people serving in every major conflict since the Boer War.
"I do the Indigenous veterans service up at Kings Park each year during reconciliation week, and for me, it's about keeping their memories alive of what they did for Australia," Aunty Di said.
"Some of them came home, the ones who were breadwinners, some of their families were taken away while they were away, the land that they were living on was given as land grants for the servicemen returning.
"Aboriginal servicemen didn't get that. We've got to remember that they did sacrifice, and they did serve, and we've got to keep that memory going for them and their families."
On Sunday, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor condemned the booing but told ABC Insiders Welcome to Country ceremonies are overused.
"I feel that at times — often, actually. I think it is overused and as a result they are devalued," he said. "I would like to see them used less and therefore not devalued, as I think they have been over time."
Asked if she agreed, Aunty Di said, "I've got to be honest, they can be," but argued they were vital during Anzac Day services.
"This is a ceremony where we're honouring where we're living or where we're standing on Noongar country," she said.
"But it's also about the respect shown for those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that did serve."
