Hill Shire Council finally holds Welcome to Country
After several times voting it down, a council has finally held a Welcome to Country – much to the displeasure of one councillor. Warren Mundine is now calling for the council to step up.
NSW
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A council which has repeatedly refused to acknowledge Indigenous elders at meetings has finally held an Acknowledgment to Country – although one councillor is still against it.
Hill Shire Council’s new mayor Peter Gangemi this week moved for council to include an Acknowledgment of Country in the Code of Meeting Practice.
He also called for the council to do more to reach, support and celebrate its Indigenous community.
Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO, who was chairman of the Government’s Indigenous Advisory Council from 2013 to 2017, has now challenged the council to follow up on the rhetoric.
He said: “If they are fair dinkum about reconciliation there needs to be actions as well as words.”
Mayor Gangemi addressed council this week after the local authority on several occasions voted against acknowledging Indigenous elders at meetings.
“It is important to me that this body of council … represents all people in The Hills Shire … (that it) reaches out to engages the whole community,” Mayor Gangemi said.
“Incorporating acknowledgment protocols into council meetings shows respect to the Indigenous people.”
“It is a gesture we can do to show our residents of Indigenous descent that council is reaching out to them for their wisdom and support.”.
In addition to incorporating an Acknowledgment of Country he also called on council to do more outside of meetings to further reach out to the Indigenous population.
As such, he moved that council investigate opportunities to better embrace the Indigenous history of the Hills Shire.
These include promoting NAIDOC week events, displaying the Indigenous history of the Shire more prominently, and investigating opportunities for Indigenous place namings.
All voted in favour other than councillor Jerome Cox.
“I guess I fall on the older side of the fence on this,” he said. “In the end I think it ends up being a little bit tokenistic.
“It (Welcome to Country) is something that was largely developed in the ‘70s and the ‘80s … (when) Maoris came to visit and wanted to do their traditional Welcome to Country type ceremonies that they have and there was no one here to do it with them.
“I’m not against trying to get reconciliation happening and engaging with the Indigenous community, but I do feel that while some residents did bring it up to me, some of them seem to be doing it more out of (being) embarrassed.
“If the motivation is that someone is embarrassed, it’s about them … it’s to make people feel better about things than to actually do anything.”
Mr Mundine agreed that Welcome to Country can be tokenistic and said it was on the council to prove the words were not hollow.
He added: “But, at the same time, Welcome to Country is important because it has highlighted that there were Indigenous people here before and it’s about showing respect and recognising that.”
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