Welcome to Country at A

Sam Newman’s rallying cry for AFL fans to boo the Welcome to Country ceremony was roundly rejected by supporters at the AFL Grand Final.

The Welcome to Country was delivered by elder Uncle Colin Hunter Jnr, who also presented the ceremony at the Brownlow Medal and Grand Final Parade.

Newman had fumed about the ceremony and called on fans to react negatively to it in the lead-up to the decider.

‘What about this, next time you go to a public event like the grand final or a football game or any public event in an auditorium and they trot out the welcome to country, start booing … or slow hand clapping,’ he said.

Instead, the packed house at the MCG acknowledged the ceremony with respectful silence.

Uncle Colin Hunter Jr is pictured performing the Welcome to Country during the 2023 AFL Grand Final parade on Friday

Uncle Colin Hunter Jr was also present at the Brownlow Medal ceremony at Crown Palladium to perform the Welcome to Country

Uncle Colin Hunter Jr is a respected Wurundjeri Elder and the first Traditional Owner in Victoria to be employed in local government ‘on Country’. 

He has worked with the Yarra City Council for seven years, managing their Aboriginal Partnership Policy. 

Besides his significant role in local government, Uncle Colin is also an emerging artist and has been involved in several noteworthy projects. 

These include the development of the Yarra City Council’s Reconciliation Action Plan, the implementation of the Aboriginal Partnerships Plan, and offering a Welcome to Country for notable events such as the Dalai Lama’s visit to Melbourne in 2014. 

He was also invited to speak in parliament in the Woiwurrung language when the new Yarra River protection bill was introduced in 2017.   

It comes after former co-host of The Footy Show and Geelong Football Club star called for AFL fans to boo the Welcome to Country ceremony at the grand final.

His comments drew the ire of many footy fans with a petition launched to have him removed from the sport’s Hall of Fame.

Controversial former AFL star Sam Newman initially called for fans to boo the Welcome to Country ceremony before softening his stance

Newman, 77, would later soften his stance on the most recent You Cannot Be Serious podcast alongside former Hawthorn legend Don Scott.

‘I wouldn’t boo at the grand final – it was just a flippant throwaway line,’ he said.

‘But I disagree with the Welcome to Country at the grand final.’

‘I said last week that we should boo the Welcome to Country – it was an extravagant statement,’ Newman added..

‘[The acknowledgement has] gone overboard and the social elites are only trying to plicate their own white prejudice by feeling virtuous that they keep going on and on with this.’

Hunter Jr’s Welcome to Country went like this:

;I’d like to start by acknowledging that this afternoon we are meeting on the lands of my ancestors the Wurundjeri people and I’d like to take this opportunity to pay my respects to my elders, past, present and emerging,’ he said.

‘I particularly want to pay my respects to everyone gathered this afternoon. I’d like to acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander joining us and acknowledge them and pay my respects to them. Welcome. The Wurundjeri people welcome everyone to land today. 

‘The Wurundjeri people want you to look after and protect the land as they did long before. Wurundjeri country extends from the inner city of Melbourne and goes across the mountains of the Great Dividing Range, south to the east and the Wurundjeri people are part of the nation and the Wollwong language.

‘You are welcome to the land of the waterways of the Wurundjeri people. Welcome and enjoy the day. Thank you.’