Wednesday, 14 May 2025

First Nations communities

Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (18:10): (1620) My adjournment matter is for the Premier. I rise tonight as a proud Yorta Yorta woman and a representative of Melbourne’s north, deeply disappointed by the recent neo-Nazi behaviour at the Shrine of Remembrance. These acts of hate, performed beneath a monument built to honour those who fought fascism, were a disgraceful betrayal of our values as a society. They attacked the very idea of inclusion and respect, and make no mistake, they were an attack on the ongoing presence, strength and dignity of First Nations people in this country. Their division is not welcome here. The people of Victoria and the people of Australia rejected this division and hate at the ballot box. They voted for unity, for recognition and for truth-telling. Those who try to inflame division are on the fringe, and they do not speak for us. In the face of it, these welcome to country ceremonies have never been more important. These protocols are acts of respect, of grounding and of acknowledgement, not only of place but of history and survival.

Yet I have heard some say that they should not be welcomed to their own country. To those people I say this: you fundamentally misunderstand the meaning of country. For First Nations people country is not just about land; it is lore, it is story, it is kinship and language. It is spiritual, living and sovereign. Country is not something that can be owned, claimed or conquered, it is something you belong to and something that must be cared for. Being welcomed to country is not about exclusion, it is about offering respect for tens of thousands of years of continuous culture and being invited to walk together in the spirit of our shared future. The real irony is that, over two centuries, First Peoples have not been welcomed here on our own lands. We were removed from country, our languages were suppressed, our children taken.

The action I seek is for the Premier to work with traditional owners, multicultural communities, civil society and others to ensure that welcomes to country remain visible, supported and protected, not just as a cultural formality but as a vital part of our civic make-up. Now is the time to stand with First Nations people. Now is the time to walk with communities in unity, not give ground to those who peddle hate and division.