Booing of the Welcome to Country has once again marred the solemnity of Melbourne’s Anzac Day dawn service.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in the dark at the Shrine of Remembrance on Saturday morning to honour Australia’s servicemen and women.
But when Bunurong Elder Mark Brown commenced his Welcome to Country, boos could be heard from the crowd amassed in the Shrine’s forecourt. The booing continued throughout his speech and was picked up by microphones near the stage.
Many at the Shrine clapped in response to Brown’s words, trying to oppose and drown out the booing noises.
A small group of men again booed when Victorian Governor Margaret Gardner acknowledged the Bunurong people of the eastern Kulin nation at the start of her speech.
Brown was also booed during the Welcome to Country at last year’s Anzac Day dawn service.
Similar booing occurred on Saturday morning at Sydney’s dawn service at the Martin Place Cenotaph, where a number of crowd members displayed rowdy behaviour during an Acknowledgment of Country by Uncle Ray Minniecon.
On Friday, Premier Jacinta Allan gave a stern warning to those planning to attend the dawn service to boo Aboriginal elders and sow division.
“Anzac Day is a day we give thanks, stand together under one flag united in that purpose of honouring the fallen,” she said.
“Anzac Day is not a day to turn up and behave in a … disrespectful [manner]. I don’t really care what your view is.”
New Zealand serviceman Steve Crawford sought out the Melbourne dawn service while on holidays, and called the booing behaviour “a shame”.
“I had never seen that before, and I really didn’t know what to make of it,” he said. “Everyone has their own options about things, but I thought it was a shame really. It takes the shine away from what the day is about.”
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