WA Council Rejects Proposal to Scrap Indigenous Ceremony at Council Events

The councillor who raised the proposal says the community is tired of ’tokenism‘ and ’wokeisms.’

Indigenous performers perform the Welcome to Country during a smoke ceremony prior to the state funeral service for Uncle Jack Charles at Hamer Hall in Melbourne, Australia on Oct. 18, 2022. Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

A Western Australian council has rejected a councillor’s proposal to scrap Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country ceremonies following pressure from a local Indigenous community.

In October, Councillor Craig Carbone from the Shire of Harvey in the south-west of Western Australia put forward a motion to abolish both Indigenous ceremonies, labelling them “tokenistic” and “virtue signalling.”