Officials blame a 'miscommunication' for last minute Welcome to Country cancellation at blockbuster sporting event
Storm officials told NewsWire there was a 'miscommunication' between the club and two indigenous performing groups that were booked to perform in the lead up to the game against South Sydney at AAMI Park on Friday night.
The Storm released a statement which read: 'There was a miscommunication of expectations regarding the use [of] Welcome to Country at Melbourne Storm events throughout the year. We acknowledge and accept the timing and miscommunication was not ideal and we have spoken to the groups concerned this afternoon.'
Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy was set to perform the service at the Storm's match before she was told just hours before kick-off the Welcome to Country ceremony was no longer wanted.
The Age said the club reversed its decision and asked her to continue as planned after issuing her an apology.
'We were all just dumbfounded,' Aunty Joy told The Age.
'We would dearly love to be out there, but they've broken our hearts.
'We want to rebuild our relationship. We want to make them (realise) that this was wrong, hurtful, deceitful and tokenistic.'
The Storm ran an Acknowledgement of Country message on the big screens before their Anzac commemoration.
Two First Nations groups, the Maori Ngā Mātai Pūrua and Wurundjeri dance group, Djirri Djirri, cancelled their performances after learning Aunty Joy would not be delivering her ceremony.
The Welcome to Country has become a highly polarising issue at major events across the country on Anzac Day.
Earlier, a prominent neo-Nazi attended a dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance in the Melbourne CBD on Friday morning and allegedly participated in a chorus of boos when Bunurong elder Mark Brown began his Welcome to Country.
Their booing was drowned out by the rest of the crowd, who cheered in protest as the act was widely condemned.
A spokesperson for Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia a 26-year-old man from Kensington was directed to leave the area following the disruption.
Police have interviewed him for 'offensive behaviour' and will proceed via a summons.
Within hours, a lone heckler derailed a Welcome to Country led by Noongar Elder and veteran Di Ryder at a dawn service at Perth's King Park.
WA Police have appealed for information following the incident.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese slammed those who interrupted the dawn service Welcome to Country ceremonies, claiming they must 'face the full force of the law'.
He described the conduct as 'disgraceful', adding there is 'no place in Australia for what occurred'.
'The disruption of Anzac Day is beyond contempt, and the people responsible must face the full force of the law. This was an act of low cowardice on a day when we honour courage and sacrifice,' he said.
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