Karl Langdon:
13 after six and there is a new survey. Australians increasingly reject Welcome to Country ceremonies. Daniel Wild is the deputy executive director at the Institute of Public Affairs. That’s the headline this morning, Daniel. What do you think about that?
Daniel Wild:
Yeah, that’s right. What we’ve done is commissioned a survey on attitudes towards Welcome to Country in the wake of the Anzac Day, I guess a division has taken place there. And 49% of those we are said that they don’t want Welcome to Country ceremonies at Anzac Day services anymore. And only 31% said they wanted to see the practise continued and the rest were undecided. And I think it’s got to this point now where Australians are just sick and tired of the ubiquitous nature of Welcome to Country, it’s used pretty much everywhere these days. You were just talking about Qantas. Every single time a flight lands, you get a Welcome to Country or an acknowledgement of country at school assemblies in sort of boardrooms and meetings at work. So I just think Australians are over it. And Anzac Day in particular is a sacred day for our nation and it should be left alone.
Steve Mills:
I was disappointed with the Boeing on the basis that I’m happy to have the discussion as we’re having now away from Anzac Day. But to boo a woman that had actually served our country and say stop hijacking the ceremony. I mean, she’d served in our country. This is the dawn service at Kings Park.
Daniel Wild:
Yeah, I agree with you. I don’t support the booing and I didn’t boo at the service that I attended. So I share your perspective on that. But I also think that the Welcome to Country themselves have become a problem. Turning it down on the day is not the time or the place, but we should be having this debate as a society. I’m happy that the RSL has said that they’re going to be reviewing the practise. I think it should end. And really, when we look at Anzac Day, it’s a day where we need to come together to remember the diggers and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to our country.
And the Welcome to Country ceremonies, I think the problem with them is they’re not welcoming anymore. I mean, I don’t feel welcomed by them. They’ve become pretty hostile and aggressive. And they sort of turned into this form of moral hectoring where Australians feel guilty. I mean, that’s how I feel. I feel sort of bad and guilty and embarrassed when I’m being subjected to one of these Welcome to Country’s. So unfortunately, there is a time and a place for them, but that time and that place is not the dawn service on 25 April.
Steve Mills:
I suppose you could go back and we also need a bit of an education about the role that Indigenous Australians actually played in major battles, particularly World War I and II. Sometimes those people who are isolated didn’t get the same benefits as other diggers when they returns. That probably needs to be looked at as well.
Daniel Wild:
Yes. I think that’s a very fair point to make and we should do that. And as a society, I think we have done a lot to educate the population not just in relation to the contribution of Indigenous Australians in wartime, but to many other parts of our society. But I just don’t see how the Welcome to Country ceremonies themselves actually achieve that outcome. Like I say, they’ve become a political statement. They used to be much more, I guess, used in more specific circumstances that were more appropriate. But if we broaden our lens, it also takes place at pretty much every major sporting match that we see as well. And in that survey, we asked whether Australians want to see that continue and 60% said they do not want to have Welcome to Country ceremonies at sporting events either.
So I think there’s this issue that it’s creating more division. We’ve had the Voice to Parliament referendum a few years ago, which was touching on a similar topic. And close to two thirds of those in WA said that they don’t want to be divided on the basis of race. So I think it’s time for these ceremonies to be reeled right in.
Karl Langdon:
Do you think that we have been educated enough, Daniel, in and around schools? Because I reckon when I went to school, I wasn’t with what happened in Australian history, because let’s face it, the Aboriginal people essentially endured a war right here.
Daniel Wild:
Oh, I think we have done enough. Certainly, if you look at the current education curriculum, matters pertaining to Indigenous culture and history is inserted into every single component of the curriculum through what’s called the cross-curriculum priorities. It’s now gone actually too far in the other direction. I share your perspective that some time ago, perhaps there wasn’t much of an awareness or an education about it, but it’s swung way too far in the other direction to the point, and I’m not making this up, there’s actually a part in the curriculum which is teaching children to do math through the rubric of Aboriginal dance. I mean, it’s gotten quite absurd in certain parts. So I think it’s gone way too far in the other direction.
And like I say, I think it’s having this effect of making Australians feel ashamed of their history. And we don’t want that. What we want is to have a balanced fact-based understanding of our history that, yes, there were obviously violence and dispossession that took place, but that doesn’t mean we’re not the greatest nation on earth. We’re not without fault, but we are without peer. And I worry that when children go through our education system and they’re taught this one-sided view that we’re a racist country, that’s having a negative effect on their perception of our nation.
Steve Mills:
All right, well, the stats are out today. If you want to read them, you can check them out. We appreciate your time this morning, Daniel. Daniel Wild, deputy executive director at the Institute of Public Affairs.
This transcript of Daniel Wild on 6PR Breakfast from 29 April 2026 has been edited for clarity.
