The length of a Welcome to Country ceremony at a Sydney Anzac commemoration has sparked a backlash after it lasted nine minutes.
The speech was delivered by a Gadigal Elder on Sunday evening to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Hyde Park Anzac Memorial in Sydney.
2GB radio host Ben Fordham on Tuesday questioned the appropriateness of the lengthy ceremony.
Fordham said that although the speaker mentioned her ancestors’ involvement in the war, the length of the speech was excessive and detracted from the event.
‘It was supposed to be about the Anzacs, but those present had to sit through a nine-minute Welcome to Country. You don’t need nine minutes to welcome people,” he said.
‘One person contacted us and said it didn’t fit the tone of the event. The point is not to diminish the speaker’s efforts, but nine minutes is too long.
‘Some attendees found it excessive and indulgent, many are already uncomfortable with the reception in their own countries. Letting them sit for nine long minutes isn’t going to help matters.’
A year after the failed Voice referendum, there is still much debate in Australia about the value of the Welcome and Acknowledgment of Country ceremonies.
The speech was delivered by a Gadigal elder to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Hyde Park Anzac Memorial
The renewed scrutiny began in September with the Giants versus Lions AFL semi-final in Sydney, where Aboriginal elder Brendan Kerin said the ceremonies were “not meant for white people”.
“It’s a ceremony we’ve been performing since 250,000 years before Christ – and BC stands for Before Cook,” he told the crowd, referring to Captain James Cook’s arrival in Australia in 1770, prior to European settlement.
“Before colonization, walking on someone else’s land and not being welcomed onto that land could get you in a lot of trouble,” the Marrawarra man and Barkindji said.
But the modern form of a Welcome to Country was invented in 1976 by Dr Richard Walley’s Middar Aboriginal Theater group, after Maori and Cook Islands visitors to the Perth Arts Festival requested a ceremonial welcome.
The musician, dancer and writer invoked a blessing in the local language, sang a Nyoongar song in honor of their country and the group performed a ceremonial dance, all of which was a great success and struck a chord in the indigenous community.
It was later acquired by the Northern Territory Tourism Board and then by the Australian Tourism Commission and was given a global platform when it was included in the Miss Universe beauty pageant held in Perth in 1979.
Since then, the ceremonies have become an integral part of everyday life in Australia, and are seen as a sacred tradition to launch public events.
But some Aussies continue to find them annoying. Earlier this month, a ceremony in Azerbaijan was called a “complete farce.”
The modern form of Welcome to Country was invented in 1976 by Dr. Richard Walley
Representative Dr. Clare Anderson performed a country recognition ceremony in a near-empty room in the former Soviet republic as part of the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
“To begin with – even though we are not on Australian soil – I would still like to begin by recognizing the Traditional Owners of Australia and the Torres Strait Islands and paying my respects to their elders, past, present and emerging countries,” said Dr. Anderson. .
Critics found the performance of the ceremony by Dr. Anderson, so far from Australia, nonsensical.
“What a complete farce – here’s a video of the ‘Australian Pavilion’ at the Baku climate w***fest – funded by Australian taxpayers,” fumed former Liberal and United Australia Party MP Craig Kelly.
“Imagine having to pay all that money to build an exhibition stand, flying a delegation halfway around the world, setting up video facilities to record it all – and then they get five people,” Mr Kelly continued .
“Why are Australian government officials welcoming Azerbaijan into the country,” Coalition Senator Matt Canavan also asked.
Another controversial issue with the Welcome to Country ceremonies is the public costs.
Brisbane City Council has spent $135,000 of taxpayers’ money on the ceremonies over the past two years.
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