A council in South Australia has voted to stop reading an Acknowledgement of Country at meetings, sparking a wave of backlash.
The Northern Areas Council passed a motion in November without notice “that council delete the Acknowledgement of Country and banner on correspondence”.
The practice of reading an Acknowledgement of Country at the start of council meetings had been introduced around two years ago, but a majority vote pushed for its eradication from Council proceedings.
“It’s a democracy,” Mayor Sue Scarman said via the Advertiser.
“This was a motion of council and it was carried, so I support it. My personal take is now null and void.”
The decision has sparked anger from the local Indigenous community, with one labelling it “outrageous”.
Acknowledgments of and Welcomes to Country have become common ceremonial practice in Australian life, especially at major public events, to show respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and their ongoing connection to their land.
Ngadjuri elder Parry Agius said he was disappointed in the council’s decision.
“[I’m] feeling that Ngadjuri people are not wanted in that place, in that region,” Mr Agius told ABC Mornings on Wednesday.
“The reason behind an Acknowledgement is really about acknowledging that there were Aboriginal people before the area was colonised, and there are Aboriginal people who are now wanting to come back into the region for work, for play, for pleasure, for reconciliation, and now it’s dampened that approach.”
Adnyamathanha elder Vince Coulthard is another voicing his strong disapproval, declaring it a “racist attack” and that there was now “no room for reconciliation”.
“I think it’s absolutely disgusting that the council that represents the interests of the council’s electorate area can just not acknowledge the First Nations people,” said Mr Coulthard, who won a NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 and was named SA Local Hero in 2015.
“I think it’s outrageous, one could see this kind of thing happening. It’s a racist attack, actually, on First Nations people.”
The controversial decision came after The Presbyterian Church of Australia banned its congregations from conducting Acknowledgements of Country at their services, deeming them “inappropriate” for worship.
The decision was made at the congregations’ General Assembly of Australia (GAA) in Sydney in September, in a move that has angered and saddened Indigenous Christians, who branded it as “extreme”.
But there are some Indigenous voices who believe the Welcome to Country ceremony risks being worn out.
Earlier this year, Aboriginal community leader Noel Pearson argued the Acknowledgement of Country risked being overused, therefore watering down its significance.
“I think we’re still in the learning phase … we ought to come to a consensus about when we use the welcome,” Mr Pearson said on radio station 2GB.
“I think we need to adopt a sensible approach to these things.
“When someone opens a meeting, that’s fine, but often I see every speaker then subsequently does their own welcome, it cuts into the meeting, I can tell you.”
Mr Pearson’s comments followed a discussion about the frequent use of the Acknowledgement of Country by companies including Qantas.
“I think it’s an important development but we in Australia are still learning, we’ve got to adopt a sensible approach to rituals in our public life,” he said.