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‘Disrespectful’ booing of welcome to country at Melbourne Anzac Day dawn service condemned ‘Neo-Nazi’ booing of welcome to country at Melbourne Anzac Day dawn service condemned
(about 5 hours later)
Small group booed and yelled at Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown’s welcome and Victorian governor’s acknowledgement of countrySmall group booed and yelled at Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown’s welcome and Victorian governor’s acknowledgement of country
A man is expected to be charged for offensive behaviour after a group including an alleged neo-Nazi booed and heckled a welcome to country at Melbourne’s main Anzac Day dawn ceremony. A man is expected to be charged with offensive behaviour after a group including a “known neo-Nazi” booed and heckled during the welcome to country at Anzac Day dawn ceremonies in Melbourne and Perth.
A small group of people booed and yelled throughout the welcome delivered by Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown at the 5:30am service at the city’s Shrine of Remembrance. A small group of people booed and yelled throughout the welcome delivered by Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown at the 5:30am service at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance.
“This morning, I’m here to welcome everyone to my father’s country,” Brown said, speaking over the shouts.“This morning, I’m here to welcome everyone to my father’s country,” Brown said, speaking over the shouts.
“We all gather in the spirit of respect and unity and this welcome is an opportunity … to honour and respect the deep cultural heritage of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nations.”“We all gather in the spirit of respect and unity and this welcome is an opportunity … to honour and respect the deep cultural heritage of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nations.”
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“What about the Anzacs?” one man shouted, while others yelled: “It’s our country … We don’t have to be welcomed.”“What about the Anzacs?” one man shouted, while others yelled: “It’s our country … We don’t have to be welcomed.”
Others in the crowd shouted “Always was, always will be” and clapped and cheered over the top of the hecklers, who again booed and shouted as Victoria’s governor, Margaret Gardner, delivered an acknowledgment of country.Others in the crowd shouted “Always was, always will be” and clapped and cheered over the top of the hecklers, who again booed and shouted as Victoria’s governor, Margaret Gardner, delivered an acknowledgment of country.
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, attended the service and said the booing had been “deplorable”. The co-chairs of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, Rueben Berg and Ngarra Murray, condemned the “racist attack” and praised Brown’s “strength and resolve”,
“I was here this morning and witnessed it, and I absolutely feel that sense of outrage,” he said. “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a long and proud history of serving and sacrifice for this Country,” they said in a statement.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said the booing was a disgrace and said neo-Nazism was a “stain on our national fabric”. He said the welcome to country “should be respected”.
“Indigenous Australians played a very significant part, and still do today, in the ranks of the Australian defence force,” he said.
Victoria police said they interviewed a 26-year-old Kensington man for offensive behaviour and directed him to leave the Shrine of Remembrance. They intend to proceed with a summons and expect the man will be charged, a spokesperson said.Victoria police said they interviewed a 26-year-old Kensington man for offensive behaviour and directed him to leave the Shrine of Remembrance. They intend to proceed with a summons and expect the man will be charged, a spokesperson said.
Victoria police declined to confirm reports of the man’s identity.Victoria police declined to confirm reports of the man’s identity.
The booing was allegedly led by a “known neo-Nazi”, the veterans’ affairs minister, Matt Keogh, said.The booing was allegedly led by a “known neo-Nazi”, the veterans’ affairs minister, Matt Keogh, said.
“When we come together to commemorate on Anzac Day, we’re commemorating some of those soldiers who fell in a war that was fought against that sort of hateful ideology,” Keogh told ABC radio. The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, slammed what she called a “hateful disruption,” as did RSL Victoria’s president, Robert Webster.
RSL Victoria’s president, Robert Webster also condemned the hecklers. “[They] were completely disrespectful to veterans and the spirit of Anzac Day [but] the applause of everybody else attending drowned it out and showed the respect befitting of the occasion,” Webster said.
“The actions of that very small minority were completely disrespectful to veterans and the spirit of Anzac Day [but] the applause of everybody else attending drowned it out and showed the respect befitting of the occasion,” he said. RSL Victoria said there were a “handful” of jeerers among the estimated 50,000 attendees at Friday morning’s Melbourne service, up from the 40,000-strong crowd in 2024.
Perth’s dawn service near West Australia’s war memorial was also marred by jeers and booing, which the state premier, Roger Cook, described as “totally inappropriate, totally disrespectful, disgusting”.
A spokesperson for RSL WA said it was difficult to discern what they were saying or whether it was related to the welcome to country, delivered by Di Ryder, a Noongar woman and army veteran.
Dawn service brings stillness and emotion
The hecklers marred an otherwise solemn morning around the country, as hundreds of thousands of Australians marked 110 years since Australian and New Zealand defence forces landed at Gallipoli in Turkey.
At Sydney’s 4:30am service at the cenotaph in Martin Place, thousands of veterans and members of the public stood in silence for the service.
The rain paused as the service began and the crowd listened to the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, read Sydney Elliott Napier’s poem Salute and the army band played Abide With Me and God Save the King.
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The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, told ABC radio the behaviour was “beyond disappointing”, while Barnaby Joyce, the shadow veterans’ affairs minister, said it marred Australia’s “most sacred ceremony”. Attending a dawn service for the first time was Faith, a data science student from Bali, Indonesia, who had only seen daytime Anzac commemorations.
“Any person who desecrates that in any way, shape or form, is a complete and utter disgrace,” he said. “This one was more was more emotional knowing that this was held at 4:30 because that’s when soldiers get up,” they said.
RSL Victoria said Friday morning’s Melbourne service was attended by more than 50,000 people, up from the 40,000-strong crowd in 2024. “It makes me emotional knowing that there are people who put themselves after their own country.”
At Sydney’s 4:30am service at the cenotaph in Martin Place, thousands of veterans and members of the public stood in silence for the service. Amid the solemnity was pride and even levity when the rain resumed and umbrellas bloomed just as announcer Gareth McCray declared the ceremony’s conclusion.
The rain paused as the crowd marked 110 years since Australian and New Zealand defence forces landed at Gallipoli. “Ladies and gentlemen, the rain held off,” he said, smiling.
Attendees heard from representatives of the ADF and RSL. The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, gave the traditional reading of Sydney Elliott Napier’s poem Salute and the army band played Abide With Me, God Save the King and the national anthems of New Zealand and Australia. Showers pummelled Queensland’s Gold Coast and forced Southport’s RSL sub-branch to cancel events for community safety. Burleigh Heads did the same but a crowd amassed anyway to lay wreaths, honorary secretary Noel Patterson said.
Showers pummelled Queensland’s Gold Coast and forced the cancellation of a community march led by Southport’s RSL sub-branch, according to secretary Michael Burt. “We cancelled it, but about 1500 [people] showed up and we just had a very small service … [and] played the Last Post, read the Ode, raised the flag,” he said.
“The weather was so heavy after the dawn service, it was too wet to hold it safely,” he said. ‘Extraordinary valour’
In Sydney, though, the sun broke through in time for the 9am march, drawing thousands to line up for a kilometre alongside the city’s Hyde Park.
The crowds watched as service men and women and their families passed, followed by marching bands and bagpipe ensembles performing traditional tunes as well as Down Under and I Am You Are We Are Australian.
Just as the uniformed marchers dispersed through the park, pushing prams, taking family photos or getting drinks with friends, their colleagues across the oceans were also marking 110 years since their predecessors landed at Anzac Cove.
Crowds gathered at Gallipoli, where Australia’s governor general, Sam Mostyn, paid tribute to the young men who “encountered the fury and the maelstrom of bullets and shrapnel”.
“There were incredible acts of extraordinary valour, stories of exceptional courage and sacrifice,” she said.
“But those who fought here … were just like us, the quiet, thoughtful mate, the hard worker, the loner, the larrikin.”
Additional reporting by Sarah Basford-Canales and Krishani DhanjiAdditional reporting by Sarah Basford-Canales and Krishani Dhanji