Governor condemns booing at Tasmanian ANZAC Day service

Callan Morse
Callan Morse Published April 28, 2026 at 12.00pm (AWST)

Tasmania's Governor has condemned booing during an acknowledgment of Indigenous people at an ANZAC Day service at the weekend.

Governor Barbara Baker was heckled by an attendee of the Longford ANZAC Day service after delivering an Acknowledgment of Country on Saturday.

A boo was heard after the Acknowledgement, according to The Mercury, and a man called out before walking away.

Differing from a Welcome to Country — a formal welcome delivered solely by Traditional Owners to visitors — an Acknowledgement of Country is a brief statement of respect for Traditional Owners which can be delivered by anyone.

Governor Baker said any disruption to an Anzac Day service "offends the solemnity of this important national occasion".

"As I noted in my address to the Longford Anzac Day Service on Saturday, this of course includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians," Governor Baker told National Indigenous Times on Tuesday.

"It is disrespectful to all who have served our country as well as everyone gathered to remember those we have lost."

Following the incident Tasmanian Senator Jon Duniam slammed the behaviour on display at Longford's Anzac Day ceremony, as well as at interstate ceremonies in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth which were also marred by hecklers.

The Liberal MP said booing at an Anzac Day ceremony is "not Australian".

"People may have views about the policies of government, the words of a politician, the Welcome to Country, but to use Anzac Day as a day to voice opposition to any of those things is not right," Mr Duniam said.

"You may not like, of course, a Welcome to Country, you may not like a certain politician, you might not like certain government policies, but there are ways in Australia we conduct ourselves and I would say booing at an Anzac Day ceremony, I would say defacing an RSL in the way that has been done, is not Australian and that is not way to conduct itself in this country."

Mr Duniam urged Welcome to Country opposers to "go and do what other people do and lawfully protest, make your views known to governments, to those in charge, but don't do what they were doing at these events".

On the same day hecklers disrupted Welcome to Country practises at dawn services across Australia.

In Sydney a small but loud group of service attendees at Martin Place disrupted solemn Anzac Day proceedings by shouting and jeering as Indigenous veteran Uncle Ray Minniecon delivered a Welcome to Country.

In Naarm / Melbourne a similar disruption occurred while Bunurong and Gunditjmara man Uncle Mark Brown delivered his welcome.

The behaviour led Indigenous activist and academic Marcia Langton to call for more police at dawn services.

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National Indigenous Times

Disclaimer: This function is AI-generated and therefore may mispronounce.