Motion to ditch welcome-to-country ceremonies passes WA Liberal state council

The moves pile further pressure on Opposition Leader Sussan Ley as she faces a growing Coalition uprising among the party’s dominant conservative faction.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley faces a growing uprising among the party’s dominant conservative faction. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

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A motion to scrap welcome-to-country ceremonies and freeze out the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags from official proceedings has passed the WA Liberal state council.

The motions demand Aboriginal welcome-to-country speeches be stripped of “official status” and only Commonwealth and state flags appear at government events.

Opposition Senate leader Michaelia Cash was quick to publicly back both motions this week.

Senator Cash said it had been a “long-held belief” of hers that Australians “unite” under one national flag.

The Australian Aboriginal flag.

“Formal Commonwealth recognition should only be given to flags representing official jurisdictions or government institutions,” she said.

The move puts Senator Cash at odds with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley who has said previously that she is “happy” to stand alongside Aboriginal flags and has backed acknowledgements of country in the right “time and place”.

A motion for the party to formally abandon net-zero climate targets also passed the WA Liberal state council on Saturday.

Michaelia Cash says it is a ‘long-held belief’ of hers that Australians ‘unite’ under one national flag. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The move to dump net-zero climate targets was endorsed by Canning MP Andrew Hastie.

It comes as Sussan Ley faces a growing Coalition uprising to dump the party’s net-zero by 2050 policy.

Mr Hastie told The Australian this week that the motion reflected concerns among members over Australia’s energy security.

“It’s understandable and appropriate that our party members have their say on energy policy while it is under review by the federal party room,” he said.

The WA Liberal state council joins South Australia and the Northern Territory in backing a motion to ditch net-zero policy.

According to Liberal Party sources, the motions are the product of the party’s dominant conservative faction attempting “to flex a bit of muscle”.

Moderates within the party, sources say, wanted to avoid the motions.

“They don’t want to talk about those – no question,” the source said.

The welcome-to-country and flag motions were prepared by the party’s policy committee, which is chaired by former federal Liberal candidate Sherry Sufi.