‘Not for white people’: Australia reacts to blunt welcome to country

An unexpected comment in an unusual Welcome to Country before the GWS Giants’ finals defeat has divided Australia.

An unexpected comment in an unusual Welcome to Country before the GWS Giants’ finals defeat has divided Australia.

Brendan Kerin, a cultural educator from the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, delivered a blunt and pointed Welcome to Country prior to the opening bounce and the speech quickly began trending on social media on Saturday night.

Judging by the comments often received by news.com.au to Welcome to Country ceremonies, many Australians believe it is an unnecessary for them to be “welcomed” to their own country.

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Kerin took the opportunity to try to set that record straight before the first bounce of the semi-final showdown at Engie Stadium in Sydney, with his Welcome turning into an explanation about the ceremony’s significance.

His comments in explaining the tradition angered some fans on social media.

The Welcome to Country and national anthem were performed before the game. Photo: Channel 7.

“I’m here this evening to perform a ceremony of Welcome to Country,” Kerin began before the Giants’ loss to the Brisbane Lions.

“A Welcome to Country is not a welcome to Australia. Within Australia we have many Aboriginal lands and we refer to our lands as ‘country’.

“So it’s always a welcome to the lands you’ve gathered on.”

Kerin then pointed out it is not a relatively new ceremony aimed at white Australians.

“A Welcome to Country is not a ceremony we’ve invented to cater for white people,” he continued.

“It’s a ceremony we’ve been doing for 250,000 years-plus BC. And the BC stands for Before Cook.”

The last comment received a smattering of applause and a few laughs and was a reference to Captain James Cook, who made the first recorded European contact with Australian land in 1770.

The Welcome included a brief performance on the didgeridoo.

“Prior to colonisation, you could get yourself in a lot of trouble for walking on someone else’s lands without being welcomed onto those lands,” Kerin added. “So for me it’s always an honour to perform this ceremony.”

He finished the speech by saying: “Welcome to the lands of the Wangal people and the home of the mighty Giants”.

Kerin, who received more warm applause after his speech, then played a short piece on a didgeridoo before the National Anthem was sung by Mimi Velevska.

Unsurprisingly, the unusual approach to the Welcome to Country divided opinion on social media.

“Really good, informative Welcome to Country tonight,” was one comment.

“Welcome to country is a disgrace. Woke joke. Australia has fallen,” was another angry response.

“Hahaha “Before Cook” welcome to country was on tonight,” came a comment from a footy fan that enjoyed the message.

“This welcome to country will have annoyed all of the right people,” wrote another.

“What a friggin disgrace. Referring to BC as Before Cook and then lecturing everyone,” commented another.

Players line up for the Australian National Anthem. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.

Kerin’s performance was followed by the Australian national anthem, which was sung by Sydney artist Mimi Velevska.

The atmosphere was incredible, according to those at the game.

AFL great Brad Johnson was blown away.

The Fox Footy commentator said on Triple M on Saturday night: “The anthem was good wasn’t it.

“That was well sung by the way. That was an outstanding performance. I really liked it. It’s really started to lift the energy in the stadium. It was a little bit quiet as the players were warming up. But it’s well and truly alive at the moment.”

The crowd was treated to one of the most incredible finals ever played with the Lions coming from 44-points down to win in a thriller.

The Giants led for almost the entire match, before fourth quarter hero Joe Daniher and the Lions roared home to win 15.15 (105) to 15.10 (100).

It’s more heartbreak for the Giants, who have still reached just the one grand final and failed to win a flag in their history to date.

They have also thrown away big leads against the Swans and Lions in consecutive finals.

The Lions will now march on to face Geelong in a preliminary final at the MCG on Saturday.