Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has stated that welcoming ceremonies have become a commercial product rather than a cultural expression.
The shadow Indigenous Australians minister told Sky News on Sunday there is an “Aboriginal industry” in Australia.
“The whole welcoming-to-the-country ceremony has only expanded that industry,” he said.
“There are people all over the country whose only function, their only source of income, is to basically welcome the country.”
Senator Price said a welcome to the country was not traditionally a commercial transaction in which there would always be a payment.
‘“This commercialization of culture, which is exactly what is happening, I can understand that there will be people who will be angry if we try to stop it,” said Senator Price.
“But I think there are other ways we can encourage people to look for jobs and take advantage of opportunities.”
Sky News presenter James Macpherson suggested how Australians might respond if they are asked to pay for a welcome-to-country ceremony.
Coalition spokesperson for Indigenous Affairs, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, said welcome-to-country ceremonies have become a source of income for some Indigenous people.
“The next time an indigenous group says ‘it’s culture, we want to welcome the country,’ the answer should be that we want to honor the culture, so we won’t give them money,” he said.
Senator Price’s comment follows the Juru people of the Burdekin in the north queensland who voted to ban welcome-to-country ceremonies on their ancestral land starting Thursday.
Juru spokesman Randall Ross told Melbourne radio station 4BC that “the elders have had enough” of the commercialization of the traditional ceremony.
Senator Price said the decision reflects a broader fatigue with the ceremony.
“This shows that everyone is getting tired of Welcome to the Country, of indigenous groups and of the community in general,” he said.
Ross told 4BC presenter Bill McDonald that some of those performing at Welcome to Country were not even connected in any meaningful way to the Burdekin area.
“Our welcome to countries is not only being abused but misused for the wrong purposes,” Mr Ross said.
‘We still have people who are not connected to the country performing the ceremonies because they have been identified as preferred suppliers by governments and other agencies.
“It’s an insult to many of our traditional owners.”
Ross said elders in his community saw the ritual as “really overused” and it made them feel ashamed.
A Welcome to Country is held before a Super Netball Round 13 match in July this year.
“There are poor organizations that are trapped in that situation and have to pay, whether for a five, two or ten minute service.”
“The Elders are fed up with it being abused and want to put an end to it.”
Ross said Welcome to Country typically involves a donation process, but that “doesn’t always mean money.”
Last year it was revealed that the federal government had spent more than $45,000 on homecoming ceremonies in 12 months.
Of the departments and agencies willing to reveal what they had spent, the Department of Employment and Labor Relations racked up the largest amount on Welcome to the Countries, shelling out more than $14,000 across 20 ceremonies.
Figures obtained by Sky News from the Budget Estimates sessions in Federal Parliament show that Homecoming typically costs between $5,000 and $7,500, but can go up to $10,500 for the opening of parliament.
The Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council’s booking sheet for a Gadigal Welcome to Country for the Sydney area states the typical cost is $560, but advises that an additional $112 is required if the ceremony takes place outside of business hours .
A digestio performance also costs an additional $400.