A year after the failed Voice referendum, the value of recognition of national ceremonies is once again the subject of widespread debate in Australia.
But no one expected that an Australian government delegation would perform such a ceremony 11,475 kilometers away in Azerbaijan, which has been described as “a complete farce.”
Most Australians probably couldn’t find Azerbaijan on a map (it’s a former Soviet republic, partly in Asia and partly in Europe), but that didn’t stop delegate Dr Clare Anderson from conducting a reconnaissance of the country there in a almost empty room.
Speaking at the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference in the oil and gas-rich country, he first welcomed delegates “to the inaugural Australian Pavilion panel session”.
‘My name is Clare Anderson and I am a director of the sustainability performance group at (sustainability solutions company) Worley. “I’m very happy to be here today,” she began.
But from there, it must have been very confusing for the audience when Dr. Anderson issued a shout-out to the country.
“To begin with, although we are not on Australian soil, I would like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of Australia and the Torres Strait Islands and pay my respects to their elders, past, present and emerging,” he said.
If those who heard the words in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, were disconcerting, many who watched the conference online in Australia, where they might actually mean something, were outraged and bewildered.
A year after the failed Voice referendum, the value of recognition of national ceremonies (pictured) is once again the subject of widespread debate in Australia.
“Why do Australian government officials welcome the country of Azerbaijan?” asked coalition senator Matt Canavan on X.
His response was mild compared to that of former Liberal Party and United Australia MP Craig Kelly.
“What a complete travesty. Here’s a video of the ‘Australia Pavilion’ at the climate festival in Baku, funded by Australian taxpayers,” Mr Kelly captioned the footage.
Mr. Kelly also commented on the poor attendance at the session.
“Imagine, all that money to pay to build an exhibition stand, fly a delegation to the other side of the world, install video facilities to record it all, and you get five people to attend,” he wrote.
Dr. Clare Anderson (pictured center) gave a country recognition at a conference in Azerbaijan.
Katherine Deves (pictured), who ran unsuccessfully for the Liberal Party in the 2022 federal election, spoke for many with her response to the recognition of a country 11,475 kilometers away.
“I wonder if this would be approved if we had an Australian DOGE,” Kelly added, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency that Donald Trump is about to create when he returns to office as US president on January 20.
Businessman and conservative commentator Matt Barrie also weighed in.
“Welcome to the country… in Baku,” he tweeted, along with a smiley face emoji.
Another commenter agreed with Mr. Kelly about the cost and the ceremony performed before the talk.
“I would like you to respect the original owners of the money who paid for this,” they wrote.
Another suggested a way Australian delegates in Baku could help stop global warming.
‘Cancel the return flight, credit cards and deauthorize. This will save a lot of planet and our money,” they suggested.
Katherine Deves, a former Liberal candidate who ran unsuccessfully for former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s Warringah seat on Sydney’s northern beaches in the 2022 federal election, also criticized the incident.
‘Australia is an outpost. Nobody cares (about the country’s recognition in Azerbaijan),’ he wrote.