EXCLUSIVE
Pauline Hanson has demanded that “racist teachers” be sacked and banned for life for “brainwashing” students with “divisive” State of Country rituals.
The call comes as Daily Mail Australia can reveal that all state schools in the country are being officially urged to include the controversial ceremonies.
Parents of primary school children reported being shocked to see their children forced to touch the ground and sing “it always was and always will be Aboriginal land” at the start of every school assembly.
In New South Wales, children as young as three are encouraged to take part in the ritual at taxpayer-funded pre-schools by stating: “Today we play and learn on country (of local Indigenous people) and pay our respects to our elders past and present.”
Senator Hanson told the Daily Mail Australia she was “disgusted” by the practice and called for heads to roll.
“These racist activists – teachers and professors – know what they are doing,” he said.
‘The activists are now coming for our children so they can try again with the new generation they have brainwashed.
Pauline Hanson has called for activist educators to be sacked and banned from teaching for life, accusing them of trying to “brainwash” the next generation of Australians.
One Nation leader says welcome-to-country ceremonies have no place in public schools
“They are getting into children’s heads as early as possible to program them. This has to stop.”
‘Any teacher who attempts to indoctrinate children should be sacked and not allowed to teach in Australia again.
“Schools are for education, not indoctrination. Children should be taught how to think (think critically), not what to think.”
Each state education department provides strict guidelines regarding the inclusion of Welcome to Country and Homecoming rituals in the nation’s taxpayer-funded schools.
Welcome to country ceremonies, which could only be performed by appropriate indigenous elders, were considered essential at all major primary and secondary school events.
Meanwhile, an act of recognition of the country was promoted, which “can be carried out by anyone (children or adults) who wishes to show their respect” as part of the daily program.
Queensland has the strictest rules, with the state’s education department insisting that “a Certificate of Acknowledgement must be provided at all (Department of Education) events.”
This includes graduation and awards ceremonies, festivals and event launches, major conferences, important community forums, and school and campus openings.
The guidelines state that the proclamation can also be included in school assemblies, sports days, parent-citizen committee meetings and parties.
A welcome to country is also mandatory at all major school events in South Australia, while “acknowledgement of country is optional at other events, meetings and forums, including school assemblies.”
In Victoria, rituals extend to the classroom; the state education department recommends that “schools be encouraged to acknowledge traditional land owners at…assemblies, at the start of school, at school council meetings and at parent information sessions.”
Western Australia’s Department of Education guidelines explained that they “supported” the inclusion of “an Acknowledgement of Country at school assemblies, staff meetings and other internal events”.
Parents told the Daily Mail Australia they were alarmed to discover the ritual was now even being included in young children’s birthday parties outside of school.
“I took my daughter to a friend’s 9th birthday party in Sydney’s central west and all the kids had to take part in an Acknowledgement of Country,” said one parent.
“It was really strange. None of the children who attended the party were indigenous, so it seemed like the parents were just flaunting their virtue. It was surreal.”
Stunned parents say proclamations of gratitude are now so ingrained in society that they are even beginning to feature at children’s birthday parties.
The Country Recognition even appeared on a special episode of ABC’s Play School.
Senator Hanson said she had told her grandson that he did not have to participate in any of the rituals at this elementary school.
“When my grandson told me he was being forced to touch the ground while reciting the divisive acknowledgement of his homeland, I told him, ‘You don’t have to do that; this is your land too,’ and now he doesn’t do it,” she said.
‘I encourage all Australian families to do the same. They are your children, not child soldiers forced to serve as cannon fodder in a racist cultural war.
“We must not allow future generations to be indoctrinated with racist divisions. Every Australian citizen born here or overseas has as much right to this land as anyone else.
“Most Australians are fed up with being told that their country is not theirs.”
The One Nation leader has also called for a broader ban on the practice in all taxpayer-funded public settings.
“They are recited at the beginning of every sitting day of parliament, of every council meeting and of every Zoom meeting held by public servants,” he said.
‘We hear them at the end of every domestic flight – you can hear the moaning in the cabin every time.
‘That’s why One Nation called for a ban on Welcomes to Country last year and demanded that the promise made by Voice to Parliament lead campaigner Marcia Langton be honoured.
“It has become meaningless and offensive. It is an activist device and a vehicle for the very racial division that Australians overwhelmingly rejected in last year’s referendum.
“Australia belongs to all Australians equally. That has been my position since I first entered Parliament in 1996: equal rights for all and special rights for none.”
Professor Langton is one of the key architects of the Indigenous Voice in Parliament proposal.
The respected writer predicted last year that many indigenous Australians would no longer take part in welcome ceremonies if the Voice of Australia referendum was not successful.
Last week, Professor Langton told the Daily Mail Australia she was “unavailable” to comment on whether there had been any reluctance or refusal to officiate the ceremonies as suggested.
Marcia Langton declined to elaborate on whether there had been a negative reaction to the welcome ceremonies in the wake of the failed referendum on indigenous voice in parliament.
Anthony Dillon says rituals are overused and the real focus should be on getting children into school.
But indigenous affairs scholar Anthony Dillon said the Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country ceremonies had become so overused that both had largely lost their meaning.
“I’m not a big fan of Welcome to Country or Recognition of Country,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘They should be reserved for special occasions. Under the right circumstances, when done with sincerity, they can be powerful and beautiful.
‘But unfortunately, they are overused and have become almost obligatory for any occasion.
“I have no problem with them being included in schools, as long as they’re not hijacked for political purposes and stretched into something like, ‘The white man is bad, he should apologize.'”
‘If people want to do it at kids’ birthday parties, that’s fine. I’d probably sit there and cringe a bit and if asked, say I’m not interested, but that’s up to the parents and it’s pretty harmless.
‘At the same time, I am not a fan of people who want to make this into a big political issue. It is not.
“Instead, we should focus on cleaning up children’s schools and communities.”