Overview

• The WA Liberal Party council approved motions urging the opposition leader to remove official recognition from Welcome to Country ceremonies at sporting events and government functions.
• Senator Michaelia Cash described the rituals as tokenistic feel-good gestures that divert attention from substantive policies needed to improve conditions in First Nations communities.
• One Nation senators continued their protest by turning their backs during a parliamentary acknowledgment, with Pauline Hanson saying she felt disenfranchised by the rituals.
• Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy condemned the protest as disrespectful and stressed that senators must represent First Nations people with dignity.
• Despite the motions and demonstrations, acknowledgments and Welcome to Country ceremonies retain cross-party endorsement and no proposal has been made to abolish them.