Footy fans have delivered a divided response to the Welcome to Country at the AFL grand final after the ceremony came under fire following a recent footy match.
Uncle Colin Hunter was called up by the AFL to deliver the ceremony at the biggest match of the year and kept the proceedings short and simple, free of controversy.
‘I would like by starting acknowledging that this afternoon we are meeting on the lands of my ancestors of the Wurundjeri People and take this opportunity to pay my respects to my eldest both past, present and emerging,’ he said.
‘The Wurundjeri People wants you to look after and protect the land … while we are on Wurundjeri country you are welcome to the lands and creeks of the Wurundjeri People. Thank you and welcome.’
The ceremony drew a big cheer from the packed MCG crowd, although there were pockets of boos as well.
Aboriginal Elder Uncle Colin Hunter delivered the Welcome to Country at the AFL grand final
The comments on the Welcome to Country at the grand final were divided on social media
The packed house at the MCG cheered the Welcome to Country, although there were some boos from the capacity crowd as well
On social media, some footy fans praised the ceremony along with the total pre-game entertainment package put on by the AFL.
‘We all heard the crowd cheer when the Welcome to Country was announced. A reminder that the bigots and bots may claim to speak for us, but they only speak for their own hate filled compatriots,’ one posted.
‘A decent and respectful Welcome To Country,’ another commented.
‘Great applause of Welcome to Country. The racists are not winning,’ posted another.
But others were not convinced, saying even a simply stated Welcome to Country was divisive.
‘Performing a welcome to country at the AFL #grandfinal is exactly how you further divide Australians at an event that should be bringing people together,’ one viewer said.
‘I’d love if we had the teams sing their team songs rather than having the national anthem and welcome to country,’ another suggested.
‘Welcome to country with the sound turned down, the only way to endure it,’ fumed another.
It comes after Aboriginal elder celebrant Brendan Kerin’s staging of the Welcome to Country unfolded moments before the GWS versus Brisbane Lions elimination final on September 14 in Sydney.
During that ceremony, he infamously said they were ‘not invented to cater for white people’ and falsely said Indigenous Australians had been performing them for 250,000 years BC, which he claimed stands for ‘Before Cook’.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson led a chorus of objections to that Welcome to Country and called for them to be scrapped.
‘If we want to do acknowledgement, then acknowledge the men and women that sacrificed their lives defending our freedom and our way of life – that would go down a lot better with most Australians,’ she said.
Aboriginal elder celebrant Brendan Kerin was criticised for his Welcome to Country before an AFL match
Senator Pauline Hanson wants to see Welcome to Country scrapped in favour of honouring fallen servicemen and women
AFL boss Andrew Dillon replied to the objection from some fans ahead of the grand final, vowing that Welcome to Country was here to stay.
‘We will continue to do it, the Welcome to Country is for everyone,’ Dillon said.
‘We are a sport that is inclusive, and we believe it sets the tone for the game.
‘[We hold the collective view] it serves the game well, so we will continue to do that.’
Kerin was defiant in the face of the objections and doubled down on his stance.
‘With all the feedback I think we can sit back and just look at the absolute stupidity and the ignorance of what people are saying,’ he said.
‘Seeing people like Andrew Bolt, Pauline Hanson, Jacinta Price [and] Warren Mundine [speak out] confirms that I’m on the right path.’
AFL boss Andrew Dillon has vowed that Welcome to Country before matches is here to stay
Channel Nine footy commentator Tony Jones said the AFL needed to crack down on the levels of respect shown toward the ceremony if Welcome to Country was going to continue to be observed.
‘Now, whether you agree with Welcome to Country or not, I think football fans show a fair degree of respect. But there’s a problem. There’s a problem and the AFL must address this,’ he said.
‘This is an observance during the Welcome to Country … there was laughter through it, and I’ll tell you why: because these Welcomes … they should not be personal agendas.
‘They shouldn’t be there for political statements per se and I’m not sure whether the AFL vets the scripts, maybe they will as of now because those comments [from Kerin] did not go down well with a number of people.’
