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Herald Sun
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Herald Sun
Tucker Carlson slams Welcome to Country
Controversial US political commentator Tucker Carlson has taken aim at Australia's 'grotesque' Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country ceremonies, labelling them 'humiliation rituals' in a resurfaced clip. The video of the former Fox News host has resurfaced this week on social media as a national debate rages over the necessity of the ceremonies. The debate comes after a group of protesters – led by known neo-Nazis – booed the Welcome to Country at the traditional Dawn Service in Melbourne's CBD. An Acknowledgement of Country is a statement of respect for the traditional owners of the land where an event or gathering is taking place, and a Welcome to Country is a formal ceremony led by a Traditional Owner, often an Elder, to officially welcome visitors to their land. In the video, Carlson, who visited Australia last June on a speaking tour as a guest of billionaire Clive Palmer, slammed 'land acknowledgment' ceremonies, questioning if they help Indigenous Australians. 'When I was in Australia, the thing that shocked me the most was, your, I think it's called your land acknowledgment,' he said. 'I found it one of the most grotesque things I've ever seen. One of the most profound humiliation rituals I've ever witnessed in my life.' Tucker Carlson said they were the 'most profound humiliation rituals'. Picture: X Carlson pointed out flights operated by Qantas – which broadcasts the Acknowledgement of Country to passengers on every plane that lands in Australia – as one of the incidents when the acknowledgment is heard. 'I thought to myself, who is this helping? Is it helping the Indigenous community? If so, tell me how,' Carlson said. 'When you say this doesn't belong to me, is there someone in the Indigenous community getting a job or a government grant? No. No one is benefiting except the people who seek to steal your country. And they're are going to steal your country, and they're telling you so.' The controversial right-wing media figure went so far as to compare the acknowledgment to an armed home invasion. 'When you are forced to say something is not yours, that means someone else is about to take it from you,' Carlson said. 'If you're sitting at home one night and an armed group of people show up at your house with guns and say 'henceforth, we would like you to say, out loud every single day, this is not our house'. 'You say 'but I paid for this house. I've got a mortgage on this house, it's my house'. No, they stick a gun in your face, every day you repeat 'this is not my house'. Carlson compared the acknowledgment to an armed home invasion. Picture: X 'They're asking you to do that so they can steal your house and when they do steal your house, you won't put up a fight because you've been trained to believe it is not your house. That's exactly what a land acknowledgment is.' Dr Jessa Rogers, Wiradjuri woman and Associate Professor of Indigenous Education at the University of Melbourne said Carlson's comments were misleading and came as 'no surprise given the things he stands for in America'. 'Tucker Carlson's dismissal of land acknowledgments reveals a familiar settler anxiety, one rooted in denial and the legacy of dispossession,' Dr Rogers told 'Comparing a peaceful statement to armed invasion is not only misleading but deeply ironic, given how our lands were actually taken. Carlson's comments uphold the violence of colonisation.' Addressing Qantas' involvement in the Acknowledgement of Country, Dr Rogers said: 'Many people travelling in Australia appreciate knowing whose land they're on and who has cared for it for thousands of generations'. 'I know several of my Native/Indigenous American colleagues love it, and only wish the American airlines would do the same thing.' Qantas first introduced the Acknowledgement to Country in November 2021. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty\ Qantas first introduced the Acknowledgement to Country in November 2021 shortly after international flights resumed from being grounded amid the global pandemic. According to the national carrier, the words intend 'to honour the cultural significance of an Aboriginal mob or language group as the Indigenous inhabitants occupying the area of the modern city's airport'. 'Acknowledgment to Country is one of the things you'll hear our crew doing once we restart as well, which is a new addition and something we're really excited about,' Qantas chief customer officer Stephanie Tully said. Ralph Babet, a senator for the United Australia Party (UAP), said the video of Carlson should not have been released in full. 'This is a private United Australia Party and Trumpet of Patriots video,' he said. 'Tucker live streamed to one of our members events. This shouldn't have been released in full like this.' Dutton calls for Welcome to Country ceremonies to be regulated It comes as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has proposed Welcome to Country ceremonies should be relegated to only 'major events'. Mr Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese weighed in on the issue during Sunday night's leaders debate, where both condemned the incident at Melbourne's ANZAC Day Dawn Service. When asked if he will 'acknowledge the traditional owners at your official events', Mr Dutton said there was a sense in the community that they're 'overdone' and 'divide the country' just as the failed Voice referendum did in 2023. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton proposed Welcome to Country ceremonies should be relegated to only 'major events' during the debate. Picture: Lukas Coch/POOL/ NewsWire Mr Dutton gave two examples where he felt the ritual was no longer needed. '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 other Australians think it is overdone and cheapens the significance of what it was meant to do,' he said. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce later echoed Mr Dutton's comments, clashing with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek on Sunrise on Monday morning. Though Mr Joyce agreed with Ms Plibersek labelling the Dawn Service protesters 'scumbags', he claimed the 'overdone' ceremonies were leading to 'aggravation' among Australians. 'People are starting to feel awkward at them and awkward goes to anger at times. That is something we don't want,' he said. 'I certainly don't want to be welcomed back to my own hometown. I think veterans have a genuine concern, if they've signed on the dotted line to (serve) for this nation, they don't believe they need to be welcomed to it. 'We've got to be a lot more discerning about how we do this because there is an aggravation that's building up in the community. 'The best thing to do to avoid that is to be a lot more discerning about when you do Welcome to Countries.' Originally published as 'Humiliation rituals': Tucker Carlson slams Australian 'land acknowledgment' ceremonies
Sky News AU
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
'Gutter politics': Adam Bandt takes aim at Peter Dutton's Welcome to Country stance during fiery Q+A debate between MPs on frequency of the ceremonies
The fierce debate over Welcome to Country ceremonies sparked by booing and heckling at Melbourne's Dawn Service on Anzac Day has boiled over as two MPs traded barbs on ABC's Q+A. The row between Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and retiring Liberal MP Paul Fletcher erupted on Monday night when the Q+A panellists were asked about their stance on the ceremonies and whether they should be held at dawn services. 'What ideas does the panel have to resolve the issue amicably and in the interest of all parties concerned?' an audience member put to them. Mr Fletcher said the country needs to recognise the 'distinctive place' of Indigenous Australians, but echoed Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's claim that too many Welcome to Country ceremonies are being held. The Liberal MP was asked if the ritual was appropriate on Anzac Day, and his response triggered a fiery response from fellow panellists, including Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. 'I think we need to respect the views of veterans because Anzac Day is about acknowledging the sacrifices that have been made by generations... so I think we need to give their views very significant meaning,' Mr Fletcher said. The Environment Minister accused Mr Fletcher as 'speaking as though we don't have Indigenous veterans'. Mr Fletcher fired back, calling her suggestion a 'real piece of strawman rhetoric'. 'I never suggested that for a second and I can tell you that the role of Indigenous people in defending Australia over many conflicts has been very significant,' he said. Greens Leader Adam Bandt, who was also on the panel, pitched in, targeting the stance taken by the Opposition Leader that Anzac Day dawn ceremonies should not feature Welcome to Country ceremonies. 'It's just gutter politics from an Opposition Leader whose campaign is in free fall and he's starting to punch down,' Mr Bandt said, which garnered a round of applause from the audience. Mr Bandt appeared to criticise Mr Dutton's timing too, with his comments being made only days after the controversial booing of the Welcome to Country by attendees of Melbourne's Anzac Day ceremony. 'He's playing from the Trump playbook as his campaign is in freefall, he is punching down, playing from the Trump playbook, and we're going to call him out,' Mr Bandt said. The intense discussion follows the fourth and final leaders' debate on Sunday night, when the Opposition Leader said though he did not condone the booing at Melbourne's Anzac Day ceremony, he did say there is a "sense across the community' that the practice was 'overdone'. '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, Australians think it is overdone,' Mr Dutton said at the debate, hosted by Channel 7. Mr Dutton said at a press conference on Monday that he thought Anzac Day dawn ceremonies did not warrant a Welcome to Country. "It's ultimately a decision for the individual organisers of the events and they can make a decision based on their membership and what their board wants to do, I mean that's a decision for them and I respect that," Mr Dutton said.
Daily Mail
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
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.
Daily Mail
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Tucker Carlson reveals the one thing that shocked him most about his time spent in Australia: 'The most grotesque things I've ever seen'
Tucker Carlson has described Welcome to Country ceremonies as the most shocking aspect of his visit to Australia. The former Fox News host and right-wing pundit discussed Australian politics in a video that has resurfaced on social media, 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. 'When I was in Australia, the thing that shocked me the most was the land acknowledgment,' Carlson said. 'I found it one of the most grotesque things I've ever seen. One of the most profound humiliation rituals I've ever witnessed in my life.' Carlson said he was confused as to how the acknowledgements helped Indigenous people before claiming it only benefitted those trying to 'steal' the country. 'I thought to myself, who is this helping? Is it helping the Indigenous community? If so, tell me how. When you say this doesn't belong to me, is there someone in the Indigenous community getting a job or a government grant? No,' Carlson said. 'No one is benefiting except the people who seek to steal your country. And they're are going to steal your country, and they're telling you so.' In a bizarre comparison, the divisive commentator claimed Welcome to Country acknowledgements were like a situation where people were preparing to steal someone's home. 'When you are forced to say something is not yours, that means someone else is about to take it from you,' Carlson said. 'If you're sitting at home one night and an armed group of people show up at your house, with guns, and say "henceforth, we would like you to say, out loud every single day, this is not our house". 'I paid for this house. I've got a mortgage on this house, it's my house. No, they stick a gun in your face, every day you repeat 'this is not my house'. 'When they do steal your house, you won't put up a fight because you've been trained to believe it is not your house. That's exactly what a land acknowledgement is.' Last year, Carlson toured the country on a speaking tour as a guest of Clive Palmer, and has since endorsed the billionaire's political party Trumpet's of Patriots. A Welcome to Country is a traditional ceremony performed by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander elders to formally welcome visitors to their land and to give their blessing for events taking place on their traditional lands. While the small ceremonies are intended to be inclusive, some have claimed it is divisive, proving to be a token gesture and symbol of woke culture. The Welcome to Country acknowledgements and ceremonies have been a major talking point this election due to their increasing prevalence. Liberal leader Peter Dutton placed himself in the centre of the debate after a small group of hecklers including self-described neo-Nazi Jacob Hersant disrupted an Anzac dawn service in Melbourne. Mr Dutton described Welcome to Country ceremonies as overused, days after Bunurong-Gunditjmara man Uncle Mark Brown was booed and jeered on Anzac Day. He repeated the criticism on Monday, adding that he believed Welcome to Country ceremonies should only happen at very significant events. When asked whether he would consider Anzac Day significant enough, the opposition leader said: 'No'. 'Listening to a lot of veterans in the space, Anzac Day is about our veterans,' Mr Dutton told reporters from the campaign trail. Labor campaign spokesman Jason Clare suggested right-wing extremists were being allowed to lead the debate on Welcome to Country ceremonies, while Finance Minister Katy Gallagher accused Mr Dutton of trying to reignite culture wars. Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin was left heartbroken after a Welcome to Country she had been set to deliver was cancelled at a Melbourne Storm NRL game on Friday night following the earlier booing incident. That decision was later reversed, but she said she was too upset to go on. Aunty Joy, whose father fought in World War I, said on Monday the long-held ceremony had been practiced between communities for thousands of years. 'It is a matter of respect,' she said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the ceremonies as a mark of respect and said it was up to individual organisations to decide whether to include them at events. Aboriginal elder critics miss the point of Welcome to Country, Alyawarre woman and co-chair of the Uluru Dialogue Pat Anderson AO said. 'Again, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are used as a political football in an outdated and tired match,' she said. 'It is not up to politicians to regulate when and how a Welcome to Country should happen.' Ms Anderson expressed her sadness over the displays of disrespect on the Anzac weekend. 'A Welcome to Country is an ancient act of generosity and peace,' she said.
News.com.au
28-04-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
‘It's my country too': Aussies have their say on Welcome to Country
Peter Dutton has proposed Welcome to Country ceremonies be relegated to 'major events' only, claiming that acknowledgments of the traditional owners of the land have gone too far. With just five days to convince Australians to vote for them in Saturday's election, the Liberal leader and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese squared off in their final debate of the campaign on Sunday night. The showdown, moderated by Seven's political editor Mark Riley, took place amid a culture war over the necessity of the ceremonies, reignited after a group of hecklers – including known neo-Nazis – booed the Welcome to Country at the traditional Anzac Day Dawn Service in Melbourne last week. Both Mr Dutton and Mr Albanese have strongly condemned the incident. But, questioned by Riley whether he will 'acknowledge the traditional owners at your official events', the Opposition Leader said there was a sense in the community that they're 'overdone' and 'divide the country' just as the failed Voice referendum did in 2023. In the days since the Dawn Service incident, a growing number of politicians and Australians have waded into the debate. On Friday, Empact News took to the streets of Melbourne's CBD to ask whether people supported a Welcome to Country. Though all respondents lambasted those who had protested it that morning, some, much like Mr Dutton, declared the ceremonies were not necessary 'all the time'. 'It gets a bit monotonous,' one man told the outlet. 'I've got some great Aboriginal friends, you know, and they feel the same.' 'Yeah, I do (support a Welcome to Country) – but it's my country, too,' another said. 'I do, yes, when it's appropriate,' a third man said, without specifying what might constitute an 'appropriate' occasion. Just as many people, however, stood in support of the ceremonies all the time. 'Oh yes, of course I do,' one woman told the outlet. 'What we need to do as Australians is actually honour and respect everything to do with the First Nations people.' 'I think it's necessary,' another man agreed. 'We've got be a lot more discerning' During Sunday's debate, Mr Dutton gave two examples where he felt the ritual was no longer needed. '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 other Australians think it is overdone and cheapens the significance of what it was meant to do,' he said. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce then echoed Mr Dutton's comments, clashing with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek on Sunrise on Monday morning. Though Mr Joyce agreed with Ms Plibersek labelling the Dawn Service protesters 'scumbags', he claimed the 'overdone' ceremonies were leading to 'aggravation' among Australians. 'People are starting to feel awkward at them and awkward goes to anger at times. That is something we don't want,' he said. 'I certainly don't want to be welcomed back to my own hometown. I think veterans have a genuine concern, if they've signed on the dotted line to (serve) for this nation, they don't believe they need to be welcomed to it. 'We've got to be a lot more discerning about how we do this because there is an aggravation that's building up in the community. 'The best thing to do to avoid that is to be a lot more discerning about when you do Welcome to Countries.' Welcome to Country a 'matter of respect' Asked for his response to his Mr Dutton's claims during the debate on Sunday, Mr Albanese said the ceremonies are a 'matter of respect', and that it should be at an event's host's discretion as to whether they hold one or not. 'It's up to them, and people will have different views, and people are entitled to their views, but we have a great privilege, from my perspective, of sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture on earth,' the Prime Minister said. 'When I welcome international visitors to Parliament House, you know what they want to see? That culture.' Though post-debate data compiled by Roy Morgan found Mr Albanese was the winner under the network's panel of voters, it was Mr Dutton they sided with on the matter of Indigenous affairs. Seven's new 'The Pulse' measurement – which is similar to the old 'Worm' – spiked way into the positive when he was speaking about Welcome to Country ceremonies A poll of more than 100,000 readers on Saturday also overwhelmingly found Australians think 'they should stop completely'. 'It's not welcoming': Liberals double down Liberal frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and National Party leader David Littleproud have all also indicated support for a winding back of the tradition. Speaking at a Voice to parliament 'No' campaign event in 2023, Mr Abbott said he is 'getting a little bit sick of Welcomes to Country because (Australia) belongs to all of us, not just to some of us'. 'And I'm getting a little bit tired of seeing the flag of some of us flown equally with the flag of all of us,' he said. 'And I just think that the longer this goes on, the more divisive and the more difficult and the more dangerous that it's getting now.' If elected on May 3, Mr Dutton has stated his commitment not to stand in front of the Indigenous or Torres Strait Islander flags at official press conferences. 'I want our country to be united under one flag, and I want our country to be as good as it can be, and we can't be as good as we can be if we're separating people into different groupings,' he told reporters on Saturday. 'We are all equal Australians, and we can respect the Indigenous flag and the Torres Strait Island flag, but we unite under one flag, as every other … comparable country does and that's how we can help close the gap.' Senator Price has also repeatedly voiced her opposition to Welcome to Country ceremonies. 'There is no problem with acknowledging our history, but rolling out these performances before every sporting event or public gathering is definitely divisive,' Sen Price, who is the Coalition's Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians, said. 'It's not welcoming, it's telling non-Indigenous Australians 'this isn't your country' and that's wrong. We are all Australians and we share this great land.' 'Around the country', Sen Price said, there were some people whose 'only role, their only source of income, is delivering Welcome to Country'. 'Everyone's getting sick of it.'
