Angus Taylor says Welcome to Country ceremonies are overdone

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor says Welcome to Country ceremonies have been devalued through overuse after Indigenous figures were booed at Anzac Day dawn services when delivering speeches.

Taylor condemned the booing, saying it was un-Australian to act in such a manner at a solemn event, though he made a broader point that he could “understand the frustration Australians feel about over-use”.

“I feel that at times – often, actually. I think it is overused and as a result they are devalued,” he said on ABC. “I would like to see them used less and therefore not devalued, as I think they have been over time.”

“It’s up to individual organising committees to decide whether they want to do it or not. But the general principle should be: let’s do this less and make it more special when it happens.”

Taylor’s remarks echo those of former Liberal leader Peter Dutton, who said before last year’s election that such ceremonies, which have become commonplace at public events, were overdone.

The question of symbolic recognition of Indigenous Australians dominated political debate during the Voice to Parliament referendum in 2023, when most Australians in each state voted against a proposed Indigenous representative body.

Cultural attitudes and migration are key issues in next month’s byelection in the regional NSW seat of Farrer previously held by Sussan Ley. Taylor has been trying to claw back support from One Nation, which is polling more strongly than the Coalition and campaigning on a platform of nationalism and lower migration.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson spoke at an anti-immigration rally outside Parliament House Canberra on Sunday. Nationals leader Matt Canavan also attended.

On Anzac Day, heckles and boos were heard at dawn service ceremonies in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. At some events, attendees clapped in an attempt to drown out boos. One man was arrested by NSW Police for what authorities described as an “act of nuisance”.

Days before the services, organisers of the anti-immigration group Fight for Australia posted on social media to ask supporters to attend services and make known their displeasure with Indigenous ceremonies.

This masthead reported on Saturday that among those booing at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance were former members and known associates of the recently disbanded neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network (NSN).

Victorian premier Jacinta Allan said the scenes disrespected “everyone who fought and died for our freedoms”.

“Politicising this sacred day is bastardry. I condemn it, and so should every leader,” she said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said he was disappointed by booing from “a small number of people … Anzac Day should always be treated with the respect, solemnity and reverence it deserves”.

Indigenous academic Marcia Langton called on people to be banned from future ceremonies, though it is unclear how such a move would be put into practice.

“The majority attending the services raised their voices and clapped to support the speakers and drown out the vandals,” she wrote in Guardian Australia.

“What Uncle Mark, Uncle Ray and Aunty Di know, and what the elders of the RSL know, is that more than 118 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men served in the Australian Light Horse during the first world war.

“The morons who tried to snatch the sacred moment away from them, and those of us who observe with them at dawn services, deserve more than contempt and a few words of rancour.”

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