“There is no doubt Labor’s greatest political figure, Bob Hawke, would have supported Senator Hanson’s call for racial equality through the termination of welcome to country and acknowledgment of country ceremonies” said Daniel Wild, Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs.
Yesterday, Senator Pauline Hanson said she would seek to ban the ceremonies and acknowledgments from schools, government departments and official events.
As Bob Hawke said in his famous bicentennial address in 1988 “in Australia there is no hierarchy of descent: there must be no privilege of origin. The commitment is all. The commitment to Australia is the only thing needful to be a true Australian.”
“No hierarchy of descent means that no one group in Australian society is to be privileged above another, which is precisely what acknowledgment of country and welcome to country ceremonies do.”
“It shows how far the Labor Party of Anthony Albanese has fallen that it has gone from the party of equality to the party of nasty sectarian division in the space of just a generation.”
Recent polling commissioned by the Institute of Public Affairs found that kyboshing welcome to country and acknowledgment of country is popular with the public:
- 60% of respondents agree or strongly agree that welcome to country ceremonies have become divisive overall. Only 12% of respondents disagree or strongly disagree.
- 60% of those surveyed also say welcome to country ceremonies should not be staged at sporting events
- 49% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that welcome to country ceremonies should no longer be performed at ANZAC Day services. Only 31% wanted to see the practice continued.
“Welcome to country ceremonies are anything but welcoming. They have become hostile, aggressive, and a form of moral hectoring designed to make Australians feel bad about their nation and history,”, Mr Wild said.
“Australians should not be divided by race. Australia is a country for all of us, not just some of us. The idea that only some should receive special recognition is a dagger in the heart of what it means to be an Australian.”
Related IPA research can be found here.
