Former Liberal Minister Ken Wyatt has hit back at critics of Welcome to Country ceremonies, arguing the politicisation of Indigenous affairs is what leads to division.
Debate around Welcome to Country - a traditional 'welcome' by an Elder on their ancestral lands – has been ramped up by conservatives as part of the "anti-woke" response to the Voice referendum. It seemingly exploded into the wider public consciousness last week after a known Bunurong Elder Uncle Mark Brown was booed whilst delivering a welcome at Friday's Anzac Day dawn ceremony in Melbourne.
Despite condemning the booing, opposition leader Peter Dutton seemed to pour fuel on the fire, mirroring conservative commentators by arguing the traditional practice is "overdone".
"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 leaders' debate on Sunday night.
Mr Wyatt, the first Indigenous member of the House of Representatives, who left the Liberal Party over their stance on the Voice, said a Welcome to Country was akin to welcoming people into "somebody's home or somebody's homeland".
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Asked on Tuesday if he was disappointed in Mr Dutton's comments, he told ABC RN there already are "enough challenges in dealing with so many issues".
"I'm disappointed with anybody who doesn't take the time to understand the importance of friendship, welcoming and acknowledging that you are part of the community and you're being welcomed into somebody's home country, home region, and to politicise it just adds to the division," he said.
"I think when you start to politicise elements of Aboriginal affairs or cultural practices, then you start a process of allowing division to occur."
Alyawarre woman and co-chair of the Uluru Dialogue Pat Anderson AO said a Welcome to Country is about welcoming people to our cultures, lands, and sea, rather than the oft-stated claim that it's welcoming people to Australia.
"Again, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are used as a political football in an outdated and tired match," she said.
"It is not up to politicians to regulate when and how a Welcome to Country should happen."
On Monday, Mr Dutton went further, stating that "the majority view" was a Welcome to Country should not be performed on Anzac Day.
Asked if it was 'significant' a day to have a ceremony, he told reporters: "No would be my answer to that. It is ultimately for the organisers of the events, and they can make the decision based on their membership."
However, the national RSL website states the hosting of an Anzac Day ceremony includes a Welcome to Country, recognising the "invaluable contributions made by Indigenous soldiers, sailors, and aviators of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) who served, and still serve, alongside the many other cultures that together form our ADF".
"In recognition of Indigenous Australians as the First Peoples of Australia, the RSL supports the acknowledgement of country before the commencement of official services on Anzac Day," it reads.
Mr Wyatt, the former Minister for Indigenous Australians, who shared a cabinet with Mr Dutton in the Turnbull and Morrison governments, said he didn't know what the "contentious issue" was, but hypothesised individuals have a "perception that it's political as opposed to welcoming".
"That becomes the matter that they raise with politicians, who then don't go back and do their own work in terms of finding out what does welcome to country really mean, and distinguishing it from acknowledgement to country," he said.
Speaking on Sky News on Monday, opposition spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, backed Mr Dutton's position.
"My position has always been that we have absolutely overdone Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of country, especially when they become politicised sort of statements that are divisive, as opposed to you know, feeling like it is a welcome," she said.
With AAP
