Latest news with #divisive
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Bizarre Acknowledgement of Country ritual at a work meeting is slammed - as survey reveals what Aussies really think about the ceremonies
A senior businessman has blasted his boss for making every single one of their workers perform an Acknowledgement of Country at a meeting. The worker, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Herald Sun it was 'comical' to watch and said he felt compelled to join his colleagues in the ritual. The comment comes as the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) conducted a survey in May and found 56 per cent of Australians believe Welcome to Country ceremonies have become divisive. That was compared with just 17 per cent who disagreed. A childhood educator said pressure to perform the acknowledgements in the private sector had been led by other progressive staff members, the government and relevant peak bodies. She said failure to give one would cause her to be 'crucified' by other staff. 'It's being pushed down our throats,' she said. The state government's First Peoples' relations wing advised traditional owners should be acknowledged at the commencement of functions, board meetings, and school assemblies, among other events. The IPA - a conservative, free market think tank - asked 1,005 Australians whether Welcome to Country ceremonies had 'become divisive'. Fifty-six per cent of respondents said they agreed they had, while 17 per cent disagreed. A larger proportion of Australians said the practice should continue before sporting events and ceremonies like ANZAC Dawn Services. Just under half – 49 per cent – said the Welcome to County ceremonies should no longer take place before sports games, while 30 per cent said they should continue. At Anzac Day, 34 per cent wanted to see the Welcomes continue, while 46 per cent said they should no longer occur. A Welcome to Country is a formal ceremony conducted by an Elder or Traditional Owner of the land, granting permission for others to be on their Country. An Acknowledgment of Country, however, can be delivered by anyone to show respect for the Traditional Owners. Last week, a Darebin City Council worker objected to have land acknowledgements before work meetings. The council dismissed Shaun Turner when he questioned the ceremony after it was held at the toolbox meeting for the first time. He told the meeting: 'If you need to be thanking anyone, it's the people who have worn the uniform and fought for our country to keep us free. 'It's getting out of hand and people are losing it, it is now being done at the opening of a postage stamp.' Council officers investigated Mr Turner's alleged 'serious misconduct', but he doubled down and won an unfair dismissal case. The ceremonies took a central place in the lead-up to the May 3 Federal election. Then-Coalition leader Peter Dutton said he wanted to unite the country under one flag and maintained the ceremonies were 'overdone', after Daily Mail Australia revealed both prime ministerial contenders would have to answer a question regarding the ceremonies following an incident at a dawn service. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said individual organisations should decide whether to open events with a Welcome, saying the ceremonies were a 'matter of respect'. It came after a group of protesters booed the Welcome to Country ceremony during the Anzac Day dawn service in Melbourne on Friday. Victorians gathered under pre-dawn darkness to commemorate those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, before Bunurong Elder Mark Brown began the Welcome to Country. But boos and heckles emanating from the front of the crowd began shortly after Mr Brown commenced his speech. 'It's our country!' one heckler yelled. 'We don't have to be welcomed!' another screamed. Jacob Hersant, a prominent neo-Nazi figure, was allegedly among those loudly booing. 'This is a day for the Anzacs, it's not for Aboriginals,' he told media after the service. Public opinion was divided following the incident.
News.com.au
7 hours ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Australians ‘have had an absolute gutful' of Welcome to Country ceremonies, survey finds
Australians have tired of 'pointless' Welcome to Country ceremonies, new polling data has revealed, amid calls for a 'review' of their use at public events. A survey of 1005 Australians conducted by independent marketing research firm Dynata on behalf of the conservative Institute of Public Affairs last month found that more than half (56 per cent) of participants agreed the practice has 'become divisive'. Only 17 per cent disagreed with the statement, while 27 per cent said they were unsure. Surprisingly, 48 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 — a demographic often thought to be more progressive than generations past — did not believe the ritual to be a unifying one. Sentiment around the performance of Welcome to Country before major events like Anzac Day or sporting matches was more mixed — 46 per cent and 49 per cent respectively said they should no longer be performed before either event, versus 34 per cent and 30 per cent who said they should continue. IPA deputy executive director Daniel Wild said the survey results were proof 'Australians have had an absolute gutful' of the 'divisive and pointless' tradition. 'Even younger Australians, who the political class insist are left-wing and woke, by a two-to-one margin believe Welcome to Country performances are divisive,' Mr Wild said in a statement accompanying the findings. 'And they are evenly split on the performances at sporting events and Anzac Day ceremonies, further underscoring how divisive it is. 'Commonsense, working class, mainstream Australians understand something that the highly credentialed elites do not: Australians do not want to be divided by race, and we do not want or need to be welcomed to our own country.' He also took aim at Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, who opened her National Press Club address on Wednesday by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land and maintained that while it should not become a box-ticking exercise, there is 'a time and a place' for the declaration and Welcome to Country ceremonies. 'Look, I think Acknowledgement of Country have their place, but in significant moments like yesterday was one of those places,' Ms Ley told ABC Radio on Thursday, asked if her speech 'settled' the ongoing debate over their use. 'And as Environment Minister and Health Minister, I listened carefully and I participated in what I would describe as meaningful Welcome to Country ceremonies that involved the circumstances of Indigenous Australians with respect to our natural environment and their health that were relevant and important. 'I don't think it should be ticking a box on a Teams meeting. I don't think it should be at every work meeting, because I think that actually diminishes the value of what it is. 'So there is a time and a place, and it's about striking the right balance.' Her words were a marked departure from the stance of her predecessor Peter Dutton, who omitted Acknowledgement of Country statements at major events and speeches during his election campaign, said the practice was overdone and went as far as to say he didn't support Welcome to Country ceremonies on Anzac Day. Mr Wild argued Ms Ley's stance was also 'at odds with modern Australia', and accused her of '[failing] to state who the purported traditional owners of the National Press Club are'. A number of Indigenous community leaders and academics, speaking to The Daily Telegraph, also questioned the frequency with which Welcome to Country ceremonies were being performed, as well as the motives behind them. 'Welcome to Country is overused. It is meant to be a sacred ceremony between tribes, not to be commercialised like a money-making machine,' former South Australian AFL player Tyson Lindsay said. 'I talk to my elders about it and they say it is not acceptable, every time we hear it we cringe now … There are too many real issues facing Aboriginal people to be worrying about these empty symbolic gestures. 'I am looking for real change for the good of rather than symbolic tokenism.' Prominent Indigenous leader and businessman Warren Mundine said he was sick of the practice being hijacked for political purposes. 'A welcome is supposed to be, 'I'm glad you're here',' Mr Mundine explained. 'It's like welcoming someone into your house.' Speaking to earlier this year, Wiradjuri woman and University of Melbourne Associate Professor of Indigenous Education, Dr Jessa Rogers, said the misconception the tradition is 'about welcoming you to Australia' was 'completely ridiculous'. 'People think that a Welcome to Country is welcoming them to Australia, when in fact it is welcoming them to the specific Country of that local Aboriginal nation,' Dr Rogers said. Simply put, Dr Rogers explained, Welcome to Country is a formal welcome by the traditional owners and custodians of a particular place, to their country. 'Country is not the same as 'Australia',' she said. 'It is a spiritual concept as well as a physical one — it encompasses landmarks but also people, skies, waterways and beings. Country is what we belong to as Aboriginal people.'
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Keir Starmer says he 'deeply regrets' his 'island of strangers' warning about risks of uncontrolled immigration
Keir Starmer has admitted he 'deeply regrets' his warning that uncontrolled immigration risks turning Britain into an 'island of strangers'. The PM made the jibe in a speech last month, seen as marking a tough new approach to combat the political threat posed by Reform. But Sir Keir said he realised the language 'wasn't right' after critics claimed it had echoes of Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech. He pointed to the impact of an alleged arson attack on a property owned by his family, saying he and wife Lady Victoria had been 'really shaken up'. The premier gave the speech on May 12, hours after the blaze. In it, he warned Britain risked becoming 'an island of strangers' without tougher immigration controls – rhetoric that sparked an immediate backlash and was denounced by critics, including within Labour ranks, as divisive. At the time, Downing Street backed the remarks and said Sir Keir 'completely rejects' suggestions he had echoed Powell's infamous 'rivers of blood' speech - which was blamed for inflaming racial tensions in the 1960s. Polling also suggested that most Brits did not have a problem with his use of the phrase. But in an interview for the Observer, Sir Keir said: 'I wouldn't have used those words if I had known they were, or even would be interpreted as an echo of Powell. 'I had no idea – and my speechwriters didn't know either. But that particular phrase – no – it wasn't right. I'll give you the honest truth: I deeply regret using it.' He added: 'It's fair to say I wasn't in the best state to make a big speech… I was really, really worried. I almost said: 'I won't do the bloody press conference.' 'Vic was really shaken up as, in truth, was I. It was just a case of reading the words out and getting through it somehow… so I could get back to them.' Critics drew parallels between the phrase and a passage from Powell's 1968 speech in which he claimed white Britons were at risk of becoming 'strangers in their own country'. The Prime Minister stressed he was not seeking to use the alleged arson attack as an excuse and does not blame his advisers, saying he should have read through the speech properly and 'held it up to the light a bit more'. He also backed down on language in his foreword to the policy document linked to the speech, which said record high numbers of migrants entering the UK under the last government had done 'incalculable damage'. Sir Keir insisted the issue needed addressing because the party 'became too distant from working-class people on things like immigration', but said 'this wasn't the way to do it in this current environment'.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Starmer says he ‘deeply regrets' using ‘island of strangers' phrase
Sir Keir Starmer has said he 'deeply regrets' claiming the UK risked becoming an 'island of strangers' in an immigration speech that drew comparisons to the language of Enoch Powell. The Prime Minister said he had not been in the 'best state' to give the press conference, in which he insisted on the need for tighter border controls, as he reeled from an alleged arson attack on his family home. He said he had considered pulling out of the speech after the fire at the property in Kentish Town left him and his wife Lady Victoria Starmer 'really shaken up.' The Prime Minister ended up going through with the conference as planned on May 12, hours after the blaze. In it, he warned Britain risked becoming 'an island of strangers' without tougher immigration controls – rhetoric that sparked an immediate backlash and was denounced by critics, including within Labour ranks, as divisive. At the time, Downing Street doubled down on the remarks and said Sir Keir 'completely rejects' suggestions he had echoed Powell's infamous 'rivers of blood' speech that was blamed for inflaming racial tensions in the 1960s. But in an interview for the Observer the Prime Minister struck a more conciliatory tone, saying the language 'wasn't right'. 'I wouldn't have used those words if I had known they were, or even would be interpreted as an echo of Powell,' he said. 'I had no idea – and my speechwriters didn't know either. But that particular phrase – no – it wasn't right. I'll give you the honest truth: I deeply regret using it.' He added: 'It's fair to say I wasn't in the best state to make a big speech… I was really, really worried. I almost said: 'I won't do the bloody press conference.' 'Vic was really shaken up as, in truth, was I. It was just a case of reading the words out and getting through it somehow… so I could get back to them.' Critics drew parallels between the phrase and a passage from Powell's 1968 speech in which he claimed white Britons were at risk of becoming 'strangers in their own country'. The Prime Minister stressed he was not seeking to use the alleged arson attack as an excuse and does not blame his advisers, saying he should have read through the speech properly and 'held it up to the light a bit more'. He also backed down on language in his foreword to the policy document linked to the speech, which said record high numbers of migrants entering the UK under the last government had done 'incalculable damage'. Sir Keir insisted the issue needed addressing because the party 'became too distant from working-class people on things like immigration', but said 'this wasn't the way to do it in this current environment'.
Washington Post
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Russian officials delight in Trump-Musk rift, offer mediation, asylum
As President Donald Trump and the world's richest man blew up the internet by detonating their friendship, a key Kremlin point man on White House contacts used a phrase from the L.A. riots, a divisive moment in American history, to get in a dig. Posting on Elon Musk's platform X, close Putin ally Kirill Dmitriev used the famous Rodney King line to ask 'why can't we all just get along?'
