Kate Emery: Australia must never let reheating of old culture wars tear us apart
That is not thanks to Triple J's controversial weekend list of the best 100 Australian songs, which not only put Jet's Are You Gonna Be My Girl ahead of The Church's Under the Milky Way, but made my kids late for school while I forced them to admit The Nosebleed Section was a better tune than anything from the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack after all, Mum.
That déjà vu feeling has nothing to do with seeing music fans argue the merits of INXS v ACDC, and everything to do with the fact that welcome to country is back in the public discourse. Again.
This is partly down to the Liberal Party's State council, which voted on Saturday to remove official status for welcome to country ceremonies and partly down to Opposition Senate Leader Michaelia Cash, who said she thinks the ceremonies make people 'feel good' while doing nothing to improve life for Indigenous people.
Senator Cash's comments weren't the silliest thing I saw all weekend — that would be ranking Savage Garden's I Want You above Nick Cave's Red Right Hand — but they were right up there.
The idea that having a positive display of Indigenous culture is an obstacle to improving Indigenous welfare is like suggesting we all boycott eating hummus until the Middle Eastern crisis is solved.
Two things can be true.
One: that anyone who has attended a conference where every speaker performs an acknowledgement of country may have thought about rolling their eyes — especially if the tenth 'I'd like to
also
acknowledge' stands between them and afternoon tea.
Two: that anyone who has experienced a truly great welcome to country knows it is anything but tokenistic.
The problem is that too many Australians misunderstand what welcome to country is.
It's not the same as an acknowledgement of country, which can be done by anyone.
A welcome to country must be done by an Indigenous person and is just what it sounds like: an act of hospitality.
It's not welcome to
the c
ountry because because these ceremonies aren't about welcoming us to Australia.
As a proud Australian — proud of our music, the fact we're the only nation capable of using the c-word as a term of affection and that we boast the oldest continuous living culture in the world — why would I have a problem with that?
The other big misunderstanding about welcome to country is that it was 'invented' by Ernie Dingo.
Yeah, nah.
Welcome to country is a modern take on what Indigenous groups have been doing since the days when, over in Europe where my ancestors are from, the Neanderthals still thought they were in it for the long haul.
When one group passed into territory inhabited by another, the two would come together to request safe passage. Welcome to the patch of country we've been looking after, let us give you some tips for getting along here.
The only thing that's 'new' about welcome to country is that it's been given a national platform and incorporated into so many big events, from the opening of Parliament to footy games.
I've seen some cracking welcome to country ceremonies over the years, from those that made me laugh to those that tug on what passes for a journalist's heartstrings.
The latter happened recently when I received a very special welcome to country in the Pilbara. Without going into specifics — this particular elder was publicity shy — he told us about his connection to the land, and warned us against the spiritual repercussions of taking any artefacts we found.
It wasn't about making us feel like trespassers, just an affecting way to be reminded about the history of the land.
At a time when the Liberal Party is struggling for relevance, at both the Federal and State level, it is tedious to see so many party members breathing on the coals of this particular culture war. An Opposition that puts its energy into tearing down Indigenous culture instead of holding the Government to account and coming up with policies to present itself as a credible alternative, is one that's doomed to fail.
And for those of us who believe that good oppositions make good governments, it's almost as maddening as seeing Thunderstruck not make the top 10 of Australian bangers.
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