Labor and Greens unite to condemn One Nation senators for snubbing acknowledgment of country
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Version 0 of 1. Indigenous affairs minister Malarndirri McCarthy says stunt by Pauline Hanson’s party was ‘incredibly childish’ and disrespectful Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Labor and the Greens have united to condemn One Nation senators for turning their back on parliament’s acknowledgement of country statements, describing them as “incredibly childish” and “hurtful” stunts. One Nation’s leader, Pauline Hanson, stood in the chamber as the Indigenous affairs minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, government Senate leader, Penny Wong, and Greens leader, Larissa Waters, all made statements criticising the rightwing minor party’s “deliberate acts of disrespect”. “Whether it is for attention or for clickbait, whether it is to cause offence, whether it is to stoke division, these senators have made a deliberate decision to disrespect First Nations Australians,” McCarthy said. “You’d think that they’d have heard the clear message from the Australian people in May, the politics of culture wars were rejected. The politics of disrespect and nastiness were rejected. The politics of punching down on First Nations people were rejected.” Hanson doubled down on the stance, telling her Senate colleagues the acknowledgements and welcome to country ceremonies left her feeling “disenfranchised”. “We don’t want this division in our nation. So it’s the steps that I’ve taken to speak up on behalf of those Australian people that don’t want this division. I don’t want to have to do this,” Hanson said. The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, also stood up to condemn Hanson, who she accused of being “entirely blind to her own privilege”. Just the day prior, Waters’ colleague, Mehreen Faruqi, was sanctioned for holding up a sign protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza during the governor general’s address. While holding a prop in the Senate – as Faruqi did on Tuesday – is a breach of the standing orders, turning your back to an acknowledgment of country is not. Sign up: AU Breaking News email “It’s a bit rich to get a lecture on First Nations culture from the likes of Senator Hanson and it’s also a bit rich to get a lecture about not wanting division from the likes of One Nation,” Waters said. “It is not welcome to countries and acknowledgement of countries that is dividing the nation. It’s racism.” The former shadow Indigenous affairs minister, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who is a known critic of acknowledgment ceremonies, said was “absolutely done with the virtue signalling that takes place”. Price acknowledged the significance of the conduct by One Nation senators but supported their underlying intention. “I am of the belief that it is not necessary to have an acknowledgement, because we are all Australians. Every single one of us, including the Ngunnawal and the Ngambri, are Australians, and we are here to serve all Australians equally in this country. Not praising or acknowledging one group above others,” she said. Penny Wong rose to her feet to offer a short statement: “Senator Hanson speaks of division, but it is she who peddles in division. Senator Hanson speaks of respect, but it is she who peddles disrespect.” In her short time as opposition leader, Sussan Ley has delivered an acknowledgment of country at her National Press Club address and attended Parliament’s opening welcome to country ceremony earlier in the week, describing it as a reminder that “parliament doesn’t begin in isolation”. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Wong said she hoped Ley’s more supportive approach to the protocol might “set the tone” and that “the opposition would reflect on the words of their own leader in relation to welcomes to country”. “I would just end on this: decency and respect cost us nothing, but it goes a long way to building a sense of unity. And if you want to see what grace and respect look like, perhaps remember what Senator McCarthy said just a few moments ago,” she said. The opposition’s new Senate leader, Michaelia Cash, launched into an animated defence of Price, accusing Wong of pontificating on the issue. “I will stand by and respect Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who, every day, has lived and breathed reconciliation in this country,” Cash said. “Her father is white, her mother is black, so please don’t ever come into this place again and pontificate to us like you’ve just done.” Days before Australians went to the polls, the former opposition leader, Peter Dutton, declared welcome to country ceremonies were “overdone” and should be limited to major events such as the opening of parliament, after a small group of neo-Nazis booed a ceremony at an Anzac dawn service in Melbourne. Advance, which Price was formerly an official spokesperson for, has launched campaigns urging an end to welcome to country ceremonies and the use of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in official government backdrops. In an email to supporters in June, the rightwing group encouraged followers to “speak up and take on” welcome to country ceremonies, criticising them as a “tool to indoctrinate” children. “And if you and I don’t stop it, they’ll go further,” the email said. |