Tony Abbott says what many Aussies are thinking about 'Welcome to Country' ceremonies
Welcome to Country ceremonies are a 'political statement', former prime minister Tony Abbott has said, before he revealed why he thinks January 26 was 'wonderful'.
Mr Abbott said the ceremonies had been forced onto Australians, as a debate erupts over the practice after a group of protesters - one of whom a known neo-Nazi - booed the address during a Dawn Service on Anzac Day.
'The ceremonies have become if you like an exercise in virtue signaling, it's become a badge of political correctness, it's become a political statement,' he told Ben Fordham on 2GB on Tuesday morning.
'Wearing masks became a political statement during the pandemic. If you weren't an enthusiast for masks, you weren't taking the pandemic seriously enough.
'I think now (the ceremonies have) become something that is forced on people as a way of trying to persuade them that the fundamental Australian project is illegitimate because it was based on this act of injustice, the original dispossession of the indigenous people.'
Mr Abbott claimed the 'fundamental problem' with the ceremonies was that they elevated one group's contribution to Australia over another persons.
'I think what happened on the 26th of January, 1788, was wonderful,' he added.
'It was the beginning of the great country that we know as Australia, it was the eruption of the modern onto an ancient continent. It's something to be celebrated.
'What happened on the 26th of January, 1788, was that the rule of law, notions of freedom, notions of equality, came to a country that previously didn't have anything like the same thing.
'Every Australian, including indigenous Australians, have benefitted from that, and sure the history hasn't been perfect, no ones history is, but on balance it's something every Australian should be immensely proud of.'
Turning to the election, the former Coalition leader said he hoped Australians would vote his former party in on Saturday.
He said Labor voters would be 'rewarding failure' and accused Anthony Albanese's government of 'economic vandalism'.
'Its emissions obsessions put power prices through the roof. Its spending addiction has kept interest rates higher for longer, and its union loyalties are making it all, making it harder and harder to manage businesses,' Mr Abbott said.
'This is why Australia desperately needs a change of government.'
The booing incident at the ANZAC Day dawn service was addressed by both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton during their leaders' debate on Sunday.
'For the opening of Parliament, fair enough, it is respectful to do. But for the start of every meeting at work, or the start of a football game, I think a lot of Australians think it is overdone,' Mr Dutton said of the ceremonies at the time.
'It cheapens the significance of what it was meant to do, it divides the country, not dissimilar to what the Prime Minister did with the Voice.'
Mr Albanese was asked directly if he thought Welcome to Countries were 'overdone'.
'It is up to people to determine whether they have a Welcome to Country or not. But from my perspective, for major events, it is of course a sign of respect,' he responded.
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