Indigenous leader Warren Mundine has proposed a solution he believes would end the ongoing controversy surrounding the welcome ceremony.
In an interview in News from the sky of AustraliaMr Mundine discussed the controversial issue which has sparked a national debate following the ceremonial performance at an AFL match by Indigenous elder Brendan Kerin on September 14.
Host James Macpherson asked Mundine if Welcome to Country should have a script that avoids “political grandstanding”.
“You’re a genius, I was thinking about that yesterday,” Mundine told Macpherson.
“I’m actually talking to some of my Bundjalung people back home about the possibility of doing that, of having a script, a couple of paragraphs or something, where we actually welcome people and do it properly, bringing people together and not dividing them.”
Mr Kerin’s rendition of Welcome to Country went viral ahead of the AFL semi-final match between the GWS Giants and Brisbane Lions at Sydney Olympic Park.
As part of his performance, Mr. Kerin addressed the crowd that filled the theater and told them that such rituals were not really for “white people.”
“I’m here this afternoon to perform a welcome to country ceremony… a welcome to country is not a welcome to Australia,” Kerin said.
Indigenous leader Warren Mundine has proposed a solution he believes would end the ongoing controversy surrounding the welcome ceremony.
Brendan Kerin’s (pictured) rendition of Welcome to Country went viral ahead of the AFL semi-final match between GWS Giants and Brisbane Lions at Sydney Olympic Park on 14 September.
“In Australia we have a lot of Aboriginal lands and we refer to them as ‘country’. So we always welcome the lands we have gathered on.”
‘Welcome to the country is not a ceremony that we have invented to satisfy white people.’
‘It’s a ceremony we’ve been doing for more than 250,000 years BC, and BC stands for Before Cooking.’
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson called the comments divisive and said Kerin’s comments had left football fans “scratching their heads”.
“If the welcoming ceremonies are not to please white people, why are white people constantly subjected to them?” he asked on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
In it websiteMs Hanson vowed to “turn her back” on Welcome to Country performances.
During his interview on Sky News Australia, Mr Mundine criticised Ms Hanson, arguing that her suggestion increased division.
“We want to get back to the original concept, which is that we welcome people, we say hello, you’re here, we welcome you,” he said.
“I think we need to get back to that concept of really welcoming people, working together and not having divisions.”
Mr Mundine said the welcome to the country should be written in a script (file image)
Mr Mundine said Welcome to Country was a “beautiful idea where we tell people we welcome them”.
“This has started to become a very divisive political momentum,” he said.
—I’m sorry, Pauline. I think you’ve crossed the line.
Mr Mundine suggested that Kerin’s interpretation of Welcome to Country was also divisive.
“She has also followed the example of Pauline Hanson,” he said.
“It’s causing divisions. Let’s get back to what really matters.”