Peter Dutton slams Qantas over Acknowledgement of Country

As the Liberal leader ramps up his criticism of Welcome to Country Ceremonies, he’s broadened the criticism to the separate statement offered on Qantas flights.

The Opposition Leader said he believes Qantas was going too far by reading out an Acknowledgement of Country every time one of its planes lands.

“I think that is over the top. I have been very clear about that,” Mr Dutton said.

“I think it should be reserved for significant events of our country.

“And the biggest effort should be about how we stop that crime that we saw taking place in Darwin, how do we stop those communities from being less safe, how can we invest in those communities? That is the practical solution I want to provide.

“The Prime Minister tied himself in knots last night in relation to this issue and can’t give you a straight answer on the welcome to country.

“He couldn’t tell you if he agreed with the other parts of the Voice treaty and truth-telling. He didn’t have the strength of leadership to stand up in relation to the Voice right from the start.

“He wasted half a billion and it demonstrated, frankly, as John Howard says, that Anthony Albanese is completely out of his depth.”

During Sunday night’s debate, Mr Dutton said he believed the Welcome to Country had become “overdone” and risked being cheapened by being used too often.

“We want to help every Australian, and we want to make sure that we can respect Australians but not diminish the significance of a Welcome to Country, which I think is taking place and I think that’s the experience of many Australians,” he said.

What is the difference between the two ceremonies?

An Acknowledgement of Country is a statement of respect for the traditional owners of the land where an event or gathering is taking place, and it can be given by anyone.

In contrast, A Welcome to Country is a formal ceremony led by a traditional owner, often an elder, to officially welcome visitors to their land.

The national carrier first introduced the Acknowledgement to Country back on November 1 of 2021 not long after international flights resumed from being grounded amid the global pandemic.

According to the airline, the words intend “to honour the cultural significance of an Aboriginal mob or language group as the Indigenous inhabitants occupying the area of the modern city’s airport.”

“Acknowledgment to Country is one of the things you’ll hear our crew doing once we restart as well, which is a new addition and something we’re really excited about,” Qantas chief customer officer Stephanie Tully said at the time.

Is Qantas “too woke”?

Qantas chairman John Mullen recently signalled a reversal of the airline’s backing for ‘woke’ causes under former boss Alan Joyce, saying such campaigning had gone too far and was sparking resentment.

The national carrier previously strongly backed a Yes vote in the Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum, with ‘Yes23’ painted on planes to support the campaign, and had also strongly backed the same-sex marriage plebiscite.

“A lot of people saw corporate Australia lecturing them on what they should think (about the Voice),’’ Mr Mullen he told The Australian.

“That’s where we made the mistake. I was at Telstra at the time and we supported the Voice, but we debated it extensively.’”

“In today’s social media-driven world, however, companies have increasingly taken public stances on divisive issues such as same-sex marriage, the Voice, climate change and other causes,” he said.

“While these efforts have been well-intentioned, I think that, as so often happens, the pendulum has maybe swung too far.”

Mr Mullen added that it would have been “equally damaging” if companies had chosen to campaign against the Voice.

He said business should “not try to pick winners and losers or throw its weight behind every cause that comes along.”

“That is what we have an elected government for,” he said.

What does Welcome to Country mean?

Critics argue the Acknowledgement of Country shouldn’t welcome Australians “to their own country”.

But supporters argue this appears to be driven by confusion regarding the traditional owner meaning of the word country versus a modern nation state with precisely defined political borders.

Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council cultural educator Brendan Kerin once offered football fans a history and cultural lesson during his delivery of the Acknowledgement of Country.

“A Welcome to Country is not a welcome to Australia,” he said.

“Within Australia we have many Aboriginal lands, and we refer to our lands as Country, so it’s always a welcome to the lands you’re gathered on.

“A Welcome to Country is not a ceremony that we’ve invented to cater for white people.”

Asked about the controversy over Welcome to Country ceremonies and Peter Dutton’s claim they are “overdone” the Prime Minister said he didn’t go looking for arguments on the issue.

“Look, I think one of the things that I do as prime minister, right, is to not look for culture wars,’’ Mr Albanese told 2GB radio.

“I try to engage. I talk with people. I talk with them respectfully, and that is what we need a little bit more of. You know, kindness and respect doesn’t cost anything, and manners don’t hurt either.”