The federal government spent more than $45,000 on Welcome to Country ceremonies in the past financial year, but the total cost could be much higher as more than half of major departments and agencies are unwilling or unable to say what they spend on practice.
READ MORE: Aboriginal woman reveals why she hates Australia’s Welcome to Country
Figures obtained by Sky News from Budget Estimates sessions in the federal parliament show that Welcome to Country ceremonies typically cost between $5,000 and $7,500, but can be as high as $10,500 for the opening of parliament.
Half of the federal government’s departments ignored parliament’s request to provide the amount spent on Welcome to Country, and two said they “couldn’t provide figures.”
Sky News say a department official told them the cost of Welcome to Country could not be disclosed due to ‘commercial and cultural sensitivities’.
Of the agencies that did respond, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations spent the largest amount on Welcomes to Country, spending more than $14,000 on 20 ceremonies.
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney takes part in the smoking ceremony to open Parliament last July
Home Affairs spent nearly $12,000, the ABC distributed more than $7,000, while Treasury allocated $2,950.
Four other departments said they spent between $1,600 and $2,800 each.
LNP Queensland Senator James McGrath called for more transparency and consistency around the amounts being spent.
He noted that the ACT government advises on its website that ‘as a general indicator $350 for a Welcome to Country is appropriate’, but the rate for opening Parliament is many times higher than that.
“I think the taxpayer would be a little suspicious that there are official guidelines, but with that big granite building in the middle of the ACT, the costs are a lot higher there.”
An Albanian government spokeswoman told Sky News that the Welcome to Country ceremonies had been widely accepted as part of official government events by both Coalition and Labor leaders.
The Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council booking form for a Gadigal Welcome to Country for the Sydney area gives the typical cost as $560.
Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy performs Welcome to Country ahead of a Women’s World Cup match between Colombia and Jamaica in August
It advises a didgeridoo performance fee and an additional $300 and there is an additional $112 fee if the ceremony is held outside of normal business hours.
Darwin-based Laraia elder Dr. Richard Fijo is a Laraia elder, who has performed Welcomes to Country for major sporting events, and argued that the ritual had cultural significance that was difficult to monetize.
“You can’t underestimate a Wwelcome to the land what that means, not just for Aboriginal people, but for the rest of Australia,” he said.“As for the cost of Welcome to Country, it depends on the presenter, what they have to say, how long it lasts and who they say it to.”
Senator McGrath claimed his constituents had had enough of Welcomes to Country.
“What people get angry about is the political message being rammed down people’s throats,” he said.
Fellow LNP senator and leading Indigenous campaigner against the Voice to Parliament Jacinta Price recently lashed out at constant Welcomes to Country, saying the practice sent an unwelcome message to the majority of Australians.
“There is no problem acknowledging our history, but rolling out these performances for any sporting event or public gathering is decidedly divisive,” Ms Price told The Australian.
LNP Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says constant use of Welcomes to Country is divisive
Australians don’t have to welcome in their own country.
The senator, who has Aboriginal Walpiri and European heritage, is one of the leading leaders of the opposition to the proposed Indigenous vote in parliament.
“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 country.’
The comments echo former Prime Minister Tony Abbott telling the Indigenous Voice to Parliament at a forum last week that he “got a little sick of Welcomes to Country” because Australia “belongs to all of us, not just some of us.”
Dr. Fejo said his Welcome to Country was not explicitly political, but defended the right to make such statements.
“Who is a politician to prevent a traditional owner from welcoming people to his country or telling them what they can or cannot say in that Welcome to Country?” said Dr. Fejo.
“They have a right to speak for their land and that should not be diminished and that should not be branded as symbolic, and that absolutely must be up to the traditional owners of each of their lands and locations.”
Some have questioned the cultural validity of the modern version of Welcome to Country, which only dates back to 1976 when a dance troupe formed by an Indigenous actor improvised its form at a ceremony for Maori and Cook Islanders.
Indigenous activist Kiescha Haines-Jamieson told her more than one million social media followers in July that the once The sacred Welcome To Country ritual “loses its cultural significance” because it is now so “mainstreamed.”
“It was never intended for opening football games or corporate and social events,” she said.
“It was actually a practice used to secure permission and safe passage to and through tribal boundaries and now it’s becoming so mainstream that it has left people apathetic.”
Narungga elder Kerry White constantly told Daily Mail Australia in December that the ‘Welcome to the country’ and ‘Recognition of the country’ rituals are not used properly and have become ‘virtue signals’ for non-Indigenous people.
“It was only used when Aboriginal elders welcomed other Aborigines onto their land for negotiating talks,” Ms White said.
‘They didn’t use it every day, it was a ceremonial process.
“So they’ve taken our ceremonial process and demeaned it by throwing it out every day in every aspect of what Australian people do.
“And I think that’s culturally wrong.”
Ms White, who ran for the One Nation in the last South Australian election, said the Welcome to Country ceremony had actually become an ‘attack on Indigenous culture’.
In the meantime