Latest news with #Bunurong
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
New Liberal leader Sussan Ley weighs in on Welcome to Country ceremonies: 'It's simple'
Sussan Ley has offered her 'simple' and straightforward view on Welcome to Country ceremonies. The newly-elected Liberal Party leader was asked whether she agreed with former leader Peter Dutton 's claim that the Indigenous ceremonies were 'overdone'. It became a national talking point during the last week of the election campaign after a Welcome to Country ceremony during Melbourne 's Anzac Day dawn service was booed. Ley made her own views clear on Tuesday afternoon. 'With respect to Welcome to Country, it's simple: if it's meaningful, if it matters, if it resonates, then it's in the right place,' she said. 'As Environment Minister and Health Minister I listened carefully and participated in Welcome to Country ceremonies that were all of those things. 'If it is done in a way that is ticking a box on a Teams meeting then I don't think it is relevant. 'I think it actually diminishes the value of what it is and it's important that we understand that.' It became a national talking point during the last week of the election campaign after a Welcome to Country ceremony during Melbourne 's Anzac Day dawn service was booed (pictured: A Welcome to Country is conducted prior to the Rugby league Women's State of Origin game one match between Queensland and NSW at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on May 1) The cultural practice became a major issue in the final week of the election campaign after an address by Bunurong elder Mark Brown at Melbourne 's Anzac Day dawn service was drowned out by boos and jeers. One of those responsible was a neo-Nazi and the ugly scenes were condemned across the political spectrum. But the episode sparked a national debate after a veteran was filmed telling a Channel Nine reporter it was a 'slap in the face' for those who have served their country in battle to be welcomed to it. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he thought the ceremonies were 'overdone', later clarifying that he did not think they were appropriate on Anzac Day.
The Guardian
09-05-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Helmeted honeyeaters return to Cardinia in Victoria for first time since 1983's Ash Wednesday bushfires
For the first time in 42 years, critically endangered helmeted honeyeaters have returned to Cardinia in south-east Victoria, where they were found until the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983. Helmeted honeyeaters are charismatic, energetic and curious, according to Dr Kim Miller, the manager of threatened species at Healesville sanctuary. Even though the birds can be quite territorial, they're social and will shake their gold and black feathers in 'a really beautiful greeting to each other'. Twenty-one birds captive-bred at the sanctuary were released into forest on Bunurong country where researchers will monitor them to see if they breed and can establish themselves as a new wild population. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter 'The location at Cardinia has some really good habitat features that helmeted honeyeaters require,' said Miller, who has worked with the species for a decade. 'It has the right vegetation structure and some of the food plants that they need. That combination is hard to come by.' Fewer than 250 helmeted honeyeaters remain in the world. Miller said 99% of the species' habitat had been wiped out across its range and genetic diversity was a problem because the remaining wild birds were incredibly isolated. Sign up to Clear Air Australia Adam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisis after newsletter promotion One remnant wild population can be found at Yellingbo nature conservation reserve in the Upper Yarra Valley. A second wild population is found at Yarra Ranges national park, where scientists working with the decades-long conservation breeding program began releasing birds in 2021. The program has been releasing birds every year since 1995, mostly to boost numbers at Yellingbo. A couple of populations introduced at other sites have been unsuccessful. 'Releasing species into new locations, there's no guarantee of success,' Miller said. 'The recovery team has been working really hard for more than a decade in finding suitable sites that can support a population of helmeted honeyeaters.' Miller said researchers planned to release more birds at the Cardinia site over the next few years to try to increase their numbers and genetic diversity. A radio transmitter has been attached to each of the birds for temporary tracking. Miller said it would fall off after a few weeks, after which each bird would be monitored over the long term via the unique leg bands they had been fitted with. Zoos Victoria's helmeted honeyeater field officer, Dr Nick Bradsworth, is at the site to feed and monitor the birds for the first few weeks. 'To see them flying around and squabbling with each other where they would have been doing this over 40 years ago, it feels like the right thing,' he said. 'This is just the start. We are just going to keep building from here. Hopefully we can create even more populations throughout eastern Victoria through their former range, so our bird faunal emblem can thrive for years to come.'
Daily Mail
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Key architect of The Voice to Parliament makes major claim about Anthony Albanese's election win
Key Voice architect Thomas Mayo has declared that Labor's resounding election victory was a national endorsement of Welcome to Country ceremonies. The cultural practice became a major issue in the final week of the election campaign after an address by Bunurong elder Mark Brown at Melbourne 's Anzac Day dawn service was drowned out by boos and jeers. One of those responsible was a neo-Nazi and the ugly scenes were condemned from across the political spectrum. But the episode sparked a national debate after a veteran was filmed telling a Channel Nine reporter it was a 'slap in the face' for those who have served their country in battle to be welcomed to it. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he thought the ceremonies were 'overdone', later clarifying that he did not think they were appropriate on Anzac Day. The debate around Indigenous recognition continued after Foreign Minister Penny Wong suggested the Voice to Parliament – a separate indigenous body with powers to influence government legislation - was, like marriage equality, inevitable. But now Thomas Mayo, one of the key advocates of the Yes campaign, has claimed that Labor's thumping majority is an overwhelming rejection of Coalition's criticism of Indigenous recognition. 'Tonight, Australia voted No to ignorance & Yes to Acknowledgement; No to xenophobia & Yes to Welcomes; No to regression & Yes to progress,' he wrote on X. After a week in which the news was dominated by controversies around Welcome to Country, the Prime Minister delivered a defiant Acknowledgement to Country during his victory speech on Saturday night 'Peter Dutton, Jacinta Price, Clive Palmer, Pauline Hanson, the IPA & Advance henceforth have no mandate. 'They've been thoroughly told NO.' His comments were echoed by Anthony Albanese in his victory speech on Saturday night. After a week in which the news was dominated by controversies around Welcome to Country, the Prime Minister delivered a defiant Acknowledgement to Country. 'I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet,' he said, to huge applause and cheers from the crowd. 'And I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging today – and every day.' In October last year, Mr Mayo insisted constitutional change, like the rejected Voice to Parliament, could still take place down the track. 'Do you accept that this particular proposal, given it has been rejected by the Australian people is dead - or do you think it could still have a future,' ABC host Patricia Karvelas asked Mayo in an interview. 'There's still a future that includes Indigenous people in the constitution. Sure, in reality it's not going to happen again for a while,' he replied. 'It will be a while before any politicians will have the courage to put it to the people and hope for the best. 'We don't always get things right in a democracy. If we accepted the "No" answers that we got about equal wages or about our right to vote as Indigenous people ... things would be worse today. 'Because more than 60 per cent of young people voted "Yes" between 18 and 24, that tells me that we've got a future, and what we tried to do last year will be achieved.' Mr Mayo criticised the No campaign and acknowledged that their slogan of 'if you don't know, vote No' was, in his words, 'unfortunately extremely powerful'.
The Age
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘Sorrento is not your town': Writers festival fallout deepens
This was a further contrast with the SWF, which had Lionel Lauch of Indigenous organisation Living Culture perform a Welcome to Country on behalf of the Bunurong community, while moderators gave an Acknowledgement of Country at the start of other sessions. The festival has several First Nations writers and publishers who are part of its program. But during an impromptu speech at the garden literary gabfest, local Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie, a supporter of SWF, made a light-hearted joke comparing Advance Australia Fair to a Welcome to Country. This further upset some in Sorrento. Now, it emerges there is yet more beef. Turns out Baillieu couldn't attend several SWF events because either the time or venue had changed since his tickets were issued. SWF said it had updated ticket holders via email. Baillieu said that was news to him, and he was seeking either an apology or explanation from Perkin, plus $60 for his unusable tickets. Changing allegiances Congratulations to Paul Guerra, the new chief executive of the Melbourne Football Club, replacing Gary Pert. Guerra, one of the few people in Melbourne to attend more events than CBD, has been chief executive of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for five years. He's also a director at Racing Victoria and previously was the boss at the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria, which runs the Melbourne Royal Show. The Age quoted competition sources saying the exec was a strong strategic thinker with good people skills, and the Demons believed it could 'bring him up to speed on football'. It will also have to bring him up to speed on being a Dees supporter, given Guerra is a lifelong Bombers tragic. We guess his re-education started yesterday. 'I'm moving from the business with politics to the business with sport, and with that, I'm trading the black and red of the Bombers to the red and blue of the Demons,' he told CBD. And as for the soon-to-be vacant VECCI post, CBD is sure that chief of staff Chanelle Pearson would love the job. Other contenders might include failed Melbourne lord mayoral candidate Arron Wood, or Victorian executive director of the Property Council of Australia, Cath Evans. No doubt it will be the hot topic at the chamber's inaugural Melbourne Winter Ball, to be held in Southbank on May 29. Bennelong matters For the Liberals to have a hope on Saturday, they need to reclaim John Howard 's old stomping ground now held by Labor on a wafer-thin margin, the Sydney seat of Bennelong. The party's candidate, Scott Yung, has spent much of the campaign firmly in the 'embattled' camp due to reports outlining his ties to a Chinese Communist Party-linked casino high roller. He also copped heat for handing out Easter eggs to primary school students, an election sweetener gone awry. Yung was evasive when confronted with media questions, even fleeing his own campaign launch, but he found a softer landing on the podcast of his former boss, Mark Bouris, founder of mortgage-lender Yellow Brick Road. 'I just want to clarify for the sake of this conversation: you're not a communist are you?' Bouris asked. Loading 'I think it's borderline racism. Just because I've got an Asian face, my parents have come from China and Hong Kong, they call me a communist,' Yung responded. The fine-print on the podcast disclosed that it was authorised by Yung's campaign – often a tell-tale sign of a paid post. Nothing fishy, we hear. Due to an Australian Electoral Commission crackdown on influencer content, the authorisation was added to avoid any further damaging headlines. Winning ways The scion of one of Australia's grandest, faded media dynasties has got the green light for a renovation at his $22 million mansion to build a new, er, wall. Charles Fairfax, son of the late Lady (Mary) Fairfax, AC, OBE, and heir to the family that once published this masthead, lodged a development application with local Sydney Woollahra Council last year, but it was rejected. The resort-style property, which Charles and wife Kate picked up in 2022, is just 10 minutes down the road from his fabled childhood home, Fairwater, in Double Bay, now owned by billionaire tech baron Mike Cannon-Brookes. Fairfax appealed against the council's rejection to the Land and Environment Court. After a conciliation conference, a revised plan kept everyone happy … and out of court.
The Age
29-04-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Peter Dutton's Welcome to Country claim comes from a common misconception about the ancient ceremony
Follow our live coverage of the 2025 federal election here. Two days after a neo-Nazi demonstrator booed Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown while he was delivering a traditional Welcome to Country at a Melbourne Anzac Day dawn service, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton were asked about it. Albanese said it's an organisation's own prerogative to open events with a Welcome to Country but noted they are 'matter of respect'. Meanwhile, Dutton said it's 'fair enough', as a mark of respect, to have a Welcome to Country for the opening of parliament, but 'to do it for the start of every meeting at work, or the start of a football game, I think other Australians think it is overdone and cheapens the significance of what it was meant to do … It's dividing the country, not dissimilar to what the prime minister did with the Voice.' Putting sentiment to one side, on a fact basis, Dutton's statement isn't entirely correct. He's conflated two different concepts. What is a Welcome to Country, and how is it different from an Acknowledgement of Country? 'There are two different things that have become conflated in this debate,' federal politics reporter Natassia Chrysanthos tells host Samantha Selinger-Morris in a new episode of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age 's podcast The Morning Edition. 'People say, '[Welcomes to Country] are overdone. They don't need to be done before every meeting at work'. You're probably not talking about a welcome in that context. You're talking about an Acknowledgement … they are different practices performed with different intentions.' To listen to the full episode, click the player below or read on for a summary of the conversation.
