The Melbourne Storm has debunked reports it was planning to abolish controversial “welcome to country” ceremonies next year, and revealed it is actually going to add acknowledgements to other cultural groups before games.
The rugby league powerhouse spoke out on Sunday to address the corporate media articles, and said not only would it continue to pander to indigenous people, but would now add ceremonies for Maori and Pacific Islander players, including a possible haka, the Herald Sun reported.
“Melbourne Storm is not ‘ditching’ its Welcome to Country or Acknowledgments as suggested by recent media. We will continue these acknowledgments at culturally significant celebrations,” the club said in a statement.
“The strength and success of our club is built on many cultures and communities, and our engagement with them has helped us to reflect the differing views on how we best support and represent each group.
“We will continue to talk to these communities and seek their input to find the most appropriate and respectful way to acknowledge and celebrate culture, including how we best acknowledge First Nations people.
“The club will continue to support First Nations community groups and organisations, as it has done for many years, delivering programs and initiatives that promote positive health, welfare and education outcomes.”
Disgusting moment professional aboriginal alludes to violence at the end of his antiwhite “welcome to country” at the AFL last night https://t.co/bmtBQr7ZQf pic.twitter.com/45briO33lw
— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) September 15, 2024
Earlier on Sunday the Herald Sun claimed the Storm would no longer hold “welcome to country” ceremonies at all, and later quoted Sydney team CEOs as saying the Melbourne club only conducted them to keep up with the “woke” AFL.
The divisive ceremonies, which are a modern invention and unpopular with most Australians, let to calls for a boycott of the AFL Grand Final earlier this year.
At a semi-final in Sydney in September, indigenous performer Brendan Kerin was slammed for making the ahistorical claim that that indigenous people have been performing the ritual for 250,000 years.
He was also criticised for calling BC “Before Cook” during his presentation, for falsely claiming that “welcome to country” ceremonies were been invented to cater for White people, and for alluding to violence.
One Nation senator Pauline Hanson responded to Mr Kerin by calling on all Australians to join her in turning their back on similar ceremonies.
“This divisive welcome to country nonsense has been allowed to fester for far too long. Australians are now being told welcomes to country had been performed for 250,000 years and weren’t invented to cater to White people,” she said.
“If they’re not to cater to White people, then why are White people constantly subjected to them? These welcomes are based on a lie: that Australia is not our home. So many people tell me they are just over it.
“Welcome to country performances are just racial antagonism disguised as reconciliation, imposed on children before they even get to school. Australia is home to all Australians, and we don’t need or want to be welcomed to our own home.”
Header image: Left, a “welcome to country” at the State of Origin. Right, before the NRL Grand Final (Nine News)
