Welcome to Country is BANNED as council sends blunt message: 'We don't do that here'
- Burdekin Shire Council no longer has Welcome to Country
Welcome to Country ceremonies have been ousted from a North Queensland council following advice from an Aboriginal corporation.
It is understood Burdekin Shire Council voted to use its own protocol for the practice.
Mayor Pierina Dalle Cort has also told the Townsville Bulletin the organisation was no longer holding Welcome to Countries.
Meeting minutes from the council, which were seen by the publication, said the authority has introduced the change on legal advice based on correspondence from the Kyburra Munda Yulga Aboriginal Corporation.
'We’re just keeping to our own place, we don’t have Welcome to Country, we don’t do that here and that’s it basically,' Ms Dalle Cort said.
The decision appears to be based on the council decision not to hold a Welcome to Country ceremony at the Sweet Days, Hot Nights festival in May.
A representative from the Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation, which is based at the Home Hill showgrounds, has previously delivered the ceremony at the event.
Legal advice reportedly recommended the ceremony not be performed, a move endorsed by council members.
More to come.
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