Date: May 25, 2023Author: Editor, cairnsnews 7 Comments
Letter to the Editor
Many attended the dawn ANZAC Day Memorial Services to honour and remember our fallen heroes, a solemn time for all Australians to reflect and remember those who fought to defend our nation and maintain the democratic freedoms we enjoy this day. Lest We Forget.
Embarrassingly the MC opened with a ‘Welcome to country’, this was totally out of place bringing race into the solemnity of this special day of our remembrance. This adaption from US Indians PR campaigns was an embarrassing and offensive intrusion into the solemnity of our remembrance service.
We will not be welcomed to our own country and we will not tolerate anyone welcoming the memories and souls of our service men and women to their homeland. This was an insulting rude intrusion into the memories of our heroes.
It must not ever happen again. People sharing fellowship at the conclusion were all disgusted at this rubbish insult and sacrilege of this special service on this special day — It must be guaranteed that such will never ever be repeated.
For your record information this phoney ‘Welcome to country’ was invented by Ernie dingo as an adaption from US Indians Public Relations campaign.
Indigenous entertainers Ernie Dingo and Richard Whalley, of the Middar Aboriginal Theatre, invented the “welcome to country” in 1976 because two pairs of Maori visitors from NZ and the Cook Islands wanted an equivalent of their own traditional ceremony before they would dance at the Perth International Arts Festival.
This fact is supported by a press statement from aboriginal Bess Price, Former NT Minister for Community Services.
What a sad reflection upon the integrity of the RSL to have been conned into this stupid façade without doing any forensic anthropology into the matter.
From PR
NSW
Nelle's journey 