BREAKING NEWS Coalition makes major decision about Welcome to Country laws
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson has revealed the Coalition will not introduce laws dictating when Welcome to Country ceremonies can be held.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said on Sunday that the ceremonies are 'overdone' and, while appropriate for the opening of Parliament, they are not suited for events like Anzac Day, on planes, at the footy, or at the start of meetings.
Mr Paterson doubled down on Mr Dutton's comments on Tuesday and clarified the Coalition's policy on the issue.
'My view is, it's up to event organisers,' he told ABC News Breakfast.
'What Peter [Dutton] said is, in his judgement, he thinks probably the majority of veterans don't want to have a Welcome to Country at these events, but he also said it's a matter for organisers.'
Senator Paterson confirmed there will be no changes to laws around the ceremonies, but highlighted that doing 'too much' risks making the ceremonies 'tokenistic'.
'We're not proposing new legislation or a new law to dictate when there should or shouldn't be welcomed to countries,' he said.
'We've said that we think they are appropriate at some events.
'We've all seen events where on Zoom calls, people are doing various Acknowledgements of Country,' he said.
Another example from Senator Paterson was conferences 'where every single speaker does it'.
'I think some Australians think that's a bit too much and it cheapens it if it's tokenistic,' he said.
The Welcome to Country is an Indigenous ancestral cleansing practice which is used to welcome people to traditional lands.
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