- Indigenous former NT minister Bess Price slammed ‘welcome to country’ events
- She said Aboriginal symbolism a ‘lie’ as indigenous women suffered violence
- It comes as her daughter Jacinta Price is attacked over pro-Australia Day stance
A former indigenous politician who received a prestigious award from Barack Obama has described Aboriginal ‘welcome to country’ ceremonies as ‘bulls***’.
Bess Price slammed indigenous symbolism as Aboriginal women in remote communities continued to suffer higher rates of domestic violence.
‘No wonder we Aboriginal people can’t get ahead. No wonder Aboriginal women experience the highest level of violence against us,’ the former Northern Territory government minister told her Facebook followers.
Former indigenous minister Bess Price slammed indigenous symbolism as ‘a lie’
Bess Price said ‘Welcome to Country’ events were a ‘shame’ as indigenous women bashed (Aboriginal tent Embassy in Canberra pictured)
‘All the “Welcome to Country”, all the “Smoking Ceremonies” and all the made up bulls*** rituals about “pay our respects to elders past and present” is just one big lie.
‘Shame shame shame.’
The Walpiri woman received a prestigious U.S. International Women’s Courage Award from former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2012 for her work tackling domestic violence.
She has re-entered the public spotlight as her daughter Jacinta Price is attacked for campaigning to keep Australia Day on January 26.
Bess Price’s daughter Jacinta was attacked for supporting Australia Day staying where it is
Jacinta Price, an Alice Springs town councillor, has joined former Labor leader Mark Latham as part of a ‘Save the Date’ campaign to maintain the national day where it is.
Her involvement in TV and radio ads comes as the Greens describe the upcoming 230nd anniversary of the First Fleet landing in Sydney Harbour as a day of ‘genocide’.
Jacinta Price has been targeted by online trolls, who have wished her a ‘painful death’, and left-wing indigenous activists who accuse her of selling out indigenous people.
Bess Price said indigenous smoking ceremonies (Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his deputy Barnaby Joyce pictured outside Parliament House) were a ‘big lie’ in symbolism
Former Labor politician Marion Scrymgour (pictured in 2007) has described Jacinta Price as a ‘dud’ who ‘our mob can see through’
Her critics include former Northern Territory deputy chief minister Marion Scrymgour, an indigenous woman, who described Jacinta Price as a ‘dud’ who ‘our mob can see through’.
Bess Price, a former Country Liberals MP, accused Ms Scrymgour, a former friend from the Labor Party, of ‘helping fuel the hate toward my daughter’.
‘The hate that has been directed at my daughter for having a different opinion to those who want to remain in their victimhood mentality is disgusting and I’m appalled,’ she said.
‘There is a dark side that has come to surface and Australia is now witnessing this up close.’