Pauline Hanson has criticised Australian welcome ceremonies, saying they are “racially divisive” and that Australians are “sick and tired” of hearing them.
The One Nation leader criticised the ceremonies in a post shared on social media platform X on Monday.
His criticism came after cultural educator Brendan Kerin delivered the welcome to country address ahead of the AFL semi-final at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday night.
His speech turned into a brief explanation of the meaning of the ceremony and he made the extraordinary suggestion that the ceremonies had been around for 250,000 years, prompting some fans to express frustration.
Ms Hanson was the latest to join the wave of scathing attacks.
“As I have said in the past, these Welcome to Country and Recognition of Country performances are one of the most racially divisive features of modern discourse in Australia,” he wrote.
“Australians are fed up with them. They are fed up with being told that Australia is not their country, which is what these things effectively do.
“Welcomes and recognitions deny the citizenship and sovereignty that all Australians have equally, and must end.”
Pauline Hanson has criticised Australian welcome ceremonies, saying they are “racially divisive” and that Australians are “sick and tired” of hearing them.
Ms Hanson added that Voice’s leading campaigner Marcia Langton had previously vowed to halt welcome ceremonies to the country if the referendum did not pass.
The Indigenous Voice in Parliament was rejected after 60 per cent of Australians voted No in the October 2023 referendum.
“I am reminded of the promise made by prominent Voice activist Marcia Langton, who promised that there would be no more ‘welcome to country’ if The Voice was rejected,” Hanson wrote.
Sadly, this promise has not been kept. Australians should not be forced to participate in or be subjected to these divisive demonstrations. Enough is enough.
In his speech, Mr Kerin addressed criticism of the country’s welcome ceremonies, including claims that Australians do not need to be welcomed into their own country.
“I’m here this afternoon to perform a welcome to country ceremony… a welcome to country is not a welcome to Australia,” he said.
‘In Australia we have a lot of Aboriginal lands and we refer to them as ‘country’. That’s why we always welcome you to the lands you have gathered on.
‘Welcome to the country is not a ceremony we invented to please white people.
‘It’s a ceremony we’ve been doing for more than 250,000 years BC, and BC stands for Before Cooking.’
Some in attendance laughed at the abbreviation, which referred to Captain James Cook’s arrival in Australia in 1770, before the start of European colonisation in 1788.
Mr Kerin’s timeline contradicted historical assessments that the ancestors of Aboriginal people first migrated to the continent between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago.
“Before colonization, you could get into a lot of trouble for walking on someone else’s land without being welcome,” Kerin said.
“It is always an honor for me to perform this ceremony.”
His criticism came after cultural educator Brendan Kerin delivered a welcome-to-country speech ahead of an AFL semi-final at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday night.
Some social media users agreed with Ms Hanson’s sentiments, with many claiming the speech divides Australians.
‘As an Indigenous Australian, I am fed up with the phrase “welcome to country” – it is false, made up and very divisive. “We want to watch football, not listen to politics,” wrote one.
“I think this is the first time I’ve agreed with Pauline Hanson. It’s not a welcome to the country, it’s a huge feeling of guilt,” commented another.
A third person chimed in: “They don’t bring Australians together. These welcome ceremonies only serve to maintain resentment.”
Others disagreed, saying it was Ms Hanson, not the welcoming ceremonies, that was the cause of the split.
“There’s the pot calling the kettle black, you and your hateful fucking party are the most racially divisive thing in this country,” wrote one.
“My family and I are very lucky to have been born in Australia. I don’t feel guilty about being Australian, I feel proud,” commented another.
A third added: “You really don’t understand how this works, do you? The country doesn’t refer to Australia, but to the area of the country (the country of Gadigal etc.).”