Hobart City Council rejects push to make its Acknowledgement of Country speeches optional after councillor argued they were 'ritualistic', similar to 'holy communion'

Sky News AU

6 days ago

A proposal to make Acknowledgement of Country speeches optional for Hobart City Council meetings has been voted down despite the push being endorsed by a high-profile Indigenous campaigner.
Cr Louise Elliot put forward a motion to remove the item from the agenda and for it to instead take place prior to official proceedings.
Cr Elliot likened the practice to religious rituals like "baptism" and "holy communion".
"Country in an Aboriginal context is much broader than the geographical term in English language. It's a much more spiritual setting and there's a complex set of things that underpin that. It's much more than the tangible items," she said.
"This is about the central concept of consent and giving people the option as to whether they engage with the ritual or whether they don't."
Cr Elliot denied the move was about erasing Tasmania's violent history.
"Acknowledging history is a really good thing. I don't think we need to do it on a hourly, daily, or even weekly basis,' she said.
'We all know that Aboriginal people were here well before colonisation. We all know that terrible things happened as part of that process, which is really sad."
The motion received unexpected support from local Aboriginal activist and Palawa person Nala Mansell.
'I completely agree that offering nothing but words at the beginning of every single meeting, gathering, parliamentary sitting to acknowledge all the horrible things that have happened to Aborigines, and continue to happen to Aborigines, becomes tokenistic,' she told The Mercury.
'The words end up making the person offering those words feel like they've contributed somehow, while offering no benefit whatsoever to Aboriginal people.
'It doesn't give us back any of our stolen lands, it doesn't stop Aboriginal incarceration rates from rising.'
Palawa elder Uncle Rodney Dillon said Acknowledgement of Country still has a role in Australia.
"As Aboriginal people we feel recognised when we do Welcome to Country. We feel that we're part of the community and the community understands us," he said.
"This is not about jamming something down someone's throat. This is about love and putting our arms out and cuddling each other. It's the opposite to what she thinks it is."
Uncle Dillon also criticised Cr Elliot's framing of the issue around consent.
"We didn't consent to them taking our land either and we didn't consent to them locking up our kids. I know a lot about consent," he said.
A council spokesman said there is no formal policy requiring the chair to deliver an Acknowledgement of Country at the start of council meetings or workshops.
"However, this practice has been consistently observed since 2015 and is observed by all Tasmanian councils and all capital city councils across Australia," they said.
Cr Elliot maintains she was made to feel it was compulsory when chairing committees.
"I was told 'no' it needs to stay as an agenda item and my choice then was either to say something that I didn't believe in, which I can't do, or to skip the agenda item and be accused of not following the agenda," she said.
"By default being put in that predicament shows that it's not optional."