The Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) strongly condemns the booing witnessed at Melbourne, Sydney and Perth ANZAC Day dawn services on Saturday.
ANZAC Day ceremonies are moments of deep collective reflection and remembrance, honouring the service and sacrifice of our service men and women both past and present, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ANZACs.
Similarly, Welcome to Country ceremonies are also an act of respect that recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s deep and continuing connection to Country. A Welcome to Country is a gift to all Australians – an ancient Cultural practice that like our connection to Country, is 65,000 years old.
Disrupting these ceremonies goes against the very essence of ANZAC Day and the spirit it represents.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people served this country with courage during World War I and World War II and returned home to face deep-seated racism and inequality. It has been estimated that more than 1,000 Aboriginal Australians served in the first world war and have continued to serve in every international mission since.
VACCHO was heartened to hear the cheers that echoed through the MCG following Uncle Colin Hunter’s Welcome to Country at the AFL ANZAC Day match. It gives us hope that most Australians can stand together as one, taking pride in the fact that we all share in a country that has the oldest living continuous culture in the world.
