Indigenous leaders have condemned the orchestrated booing of welcome to country speeches at Anzac Day dawn services across Australia, with an army captain bluntly stating that 'racism is a cancer' - which, medically speaking, is not the kind of growth you want at a solemn ceremony.
Uncle Jack Pearson, a Yimithurr man and captain in the Australian army, said that while there's 'nothing wrong with free speech and protest,' it should be respectful, 'particularly on days like this … a very special day for all Australians.' He noted that welcomes to country recognize First Nations people 'and their contribution to what we know as Australia today,' adding that 'racism or racial bias is a disruptor to our common humanity in Australia … It is not in the Anzac spirit.'
Marcia Langton, laureate professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Melbourne, called the booing a 'despicable and ignorant … moral crime' and suggested the disruptors 'should be named, photographed and banned from all future Anzac Day services.' She pointed out that if the AFL can ban disruptive racists, surely police forces can handle the situation.
The booing followed a campaign by Fight for Australia, formerly known as March for Australia, which has previously staged major anti-immigration rallies. The group encouraged supporters to contact local RSL branches to request that welcomes to country be excluded from ceremonies.
At Sydney's dawn service in Martin Place, a small but noisy group of interjectors shouted and jeered as Uncle Ray Minniecon delivered his acknowledgment of country. After they were quieted, a chorus of applause and cheering by thousands rang for an extended period to show support for Minniecon, whose ancestry includes the Kabi-Kabi and Gurang-Gurang peoples of Queensland. Minniecon, a veteran himself whose grandfather served in the Light Horse Brigade, helped start the annual Coloured Diggers event in Redfern honoring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander veterans.
Similar disruptions occurred in Melbourne, where Bunurong and Gunditjmara man Uncle Mark Brown was drowned out by cheers, and in Perth, where Whadjuk and Noongar elder and veteran Di Ryder was also booed. The RSL WA chief executive, Stephen Barton, called it 'one of the most disgraceful things I have ever heard.'
In Adelaide, booing was also reported. The South Australian deputy premier, Kyam Maher, an Aboriginal man of Indigenous Tasmanian heritage, noted that 'being welcomed to country is something that Aboriginal people have done for tens of thousands of years … and is something that is generously done.'
New South Wales police arrested a 24-year-old man for an alleged act of nuisance at Sydney's dawn service; he was charged with committing a nuisance on a war memorial and bailed to appear in court in early June. Police said 'other people were moved on from the service.'
The total number of Indigenous Australians known to have served in the first world war is almost 1,000, with research continuing. From the Boer war onward, Indigenous Australians have served in every international mission - first for the British Imperial Army, then the Australian defence force.