Evidence has been found that a Melbourne Storm co-owner heavily influenced the cancellation of an Acknowledgment of Country ceremony on ANZAC Day and has ties to a lobby group opposed to Indigenous recognition.
The Klaxon, an independent Australian news website, has reported that Melbourne Storm co-owner, Brett Ralph, has contributed $275,000 to Advance, formerly called Advance Australia, a conservative political group launched in 2018 to counter progressive lobbyists GetUp.
Advance has been running a series of campaigns against all Welcome to Country ceremonies played at several major Australian events that includes some rugby league matches on significant dates on the calendar.
Ralph was first found last financial year to be the equal-second biggest donor to Advance behind the federal Liberal Party.
Ralph donated $175,000 to fight against an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, according to records disclosed to the Australian Electoral Commission, following the 2022 election promise of the Labor Party into government.
The actions were scrutinised by former Melbourne Storm supporter and prominent Yorta Yorta rapper and entertainer, Adam Briggs, who later withdrew his longtime support for the club.
The club, similar to most in the NRL, publicly declared its support for the Voice, in spite of the personal beliefs of Ralph.
Briggs had penned a letter to the club days following the Voice's referendum over the discovery of Ralph's donations to Advance, believing the intent was to peddle, fearmonger and amplify the case against Indigenous causes, including the legitimacy of the Acknowledgment of Country.
"Do Brett Ralph's values align with those of the Storm at large, and can the Melbourne Storm Rugby League continue to support both Brett Ralph, and the culture and identity of its First Nation people? I think not," Briggs wrote directly to the Storm.
Ralph, who owns 20 per cent of the club, as well as parts of other sporting enterprises like Suncorp Super Netball franchise, Sunshine Coast Lightning, is one of just four Storm board members, including that of chairman Matthew Tripp, while continuing to have a vested control of ownership and influence of the club.
The club's administration cancelled its planned Welcome to Country address for Friday's match against South Sydney, just before notifying Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin and a group of Indigenous dancers, Djirri Djirri, who were set to appear on the field in front of a sold-out AAMI Park.
A media release from the Storm attributed the cancellation down to a "misunderstanding", Tripp also telling ABC Radio the following day that the board had only "asked for clarification about the sequencing of the Anzac Day ceremony" but also that "we were not aware that a Welcome to Country was to be performed".
The Storm also added that it hesitantly rescinded its cancellation before the Elder and performers feeling visibly upset refused to appear at the eleventh hour.
"There was some confusion (on Friday) and we take responsibility for that," Tripp said.
"Welcome to Country cancelled 'due to the wishes of the board'."
The cancellation came after an Indigenous ceremony to be performed at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance for its ANZAC Day dawn service was marred by booing and abuse from a group of anti-Welcome to Country protesters that was said to contain a reputed neo-Nazi.
Advance just happened to send out a mass email a week before the Anzac Day dawn service, asking supporters 'Sick of hearing Welcome to Country?', declaring the Indigenous ceremony was a "direct attack on Australian values".
"It's about de-legitimising your place in the country, your family's history, the sacrifice and blood, sweat and tears that went into building Australia," Advance executive director Matthew Sheahan wrote.
"Welcome to Country (is a) part of a broader plan to de-legitimise Australia's history".
The email did not explain that the ceremonies are not necessarily a welcome for people to Australia, but to the once prevalent lands of Aboriginal nations prior to colonisation in 1788 that still exist for Aboriginal people to this day.
Ralph has refused to publicly comment to the media on several of the matters raised.
