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.”

The move comes as two South Australian councils voted to axe the procedure, with members saying their reason for doing so was because Australia was “one country.”

Acknowledgement of Country ceremonies, first popularised in the 1970s, are performed before formal proceedings to show respect to Indigenous communities and their connection to their land, while the Welcome to Country is an actual physical ceremony. These ceremonies are usually conducted by Aboriginal leaders and elders.

On Nov. 28, the Shire of Harvey council rejected Ms. Carbone’s motion, but instead passed an alternative motion to “workshop and review” the Shire’s Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country policies with the council, officers, and the Indigenous community.

The workshop will start in 2024.

“I also want to acknowledge that this has been a sensitive issue for both council and the wider community,” president of the Shire of Harvey, Michelle Campbell, said on Nov. 29.

Welcome to Country Ceremony is Important: Aboriginal Leader

Chairman of Harvey Aboriginal Corporation (HAC), Greg Little, told the council on Nov. 28 that the Welcome to Country ceremony was important and abolishing it would divide the community.

“It is not tokenism and actually delivered with heart, and desire for unity,” Mr. Little said.

“We are blessed with the acceptance … for Aboriginal people that exists in the Harvey community, and this community does not need division.”

The HAC has previously said that Acknowledgement of Country was overused but argued that both ceremonies still had meaning, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Ms. Campbell said she was satisfied with the result but acknowledged that the debate had triggered anxiety in the Indigenous community.

“For our Indigenous community they’re still reeling from the outcome of the referendum,” Ms. Campbell said.

“They were hurting as a result of this and I suppose the lack of consultation ... [on] how this [the proposal] was brought to council for discussion.”

Councillor Says Community Tired of ‘Wokeisms’

Mr. Carbone said his position was supported by the wider community, despite expecting his proposal would be rejected.

“The Australian public are sick of this virtue-signalling and tokenism,” he said.

“I think I made it loud and clear that people want to get rid of these ‘wokeisms’ that are dragging our country down.”

The councillor previously said he would accept the council’s decision.

“I hope we go out to the community and I tried to get that [across] yesterday, where we poll our ratepayers and see how they want us to handle this going forward,” he said.

Mr. Carbone said that he believed that the ceremonies do not lead to better outcomes for the Indigenous community, and that it’s time “to start getting over our colonial past” and look to “our multicultural future.”

“[It’s] time we embrace everyone, from all walks of life and move forward as a nation.”