Booing an Aboriginal elder at a solemn public commemoration is racial hostility, however you spin it

April 27, 2026 — 3:00pm

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I heard the booing that broke out during the Welcome to Country at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance on Anzac Day. Reports suggest similar scenes occurred in Sydney. On the day Australians gather to honour sacrifice, service and national unity, some in those crowds chose to direct hostility at Aboriginal people doing nothing more provocative than acknowledging Country.

It is hard to know what is more dispiriting: the behaviour itself, or the fact that it now feels grimly familiar. First Nations people are repeatedly asked to be patient, to educate, to participate generously in the national project of reconciliation, and then, when they stand to speak in moments of public ceremony, they are jeered and told in one form or another that they are unwelcome. Once again, Aboriginal people are expected to absorb the insult, steady the national mood, and move on.

Let us be clear about what occurred. This was not a defence........

© The Age