A local senior Aboriginal elder was broken-hearted after a scheduled Welcome to Country ceremony was cancelled at the last minute on Anzac Day.
Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin was invited to Melbourne Storm’s Anzac Day round to perform the Welcome to Country.
Aunty Joy told ABC News she received a phone call from the rugby club’s chief executive officer while driving to AAMI Park.
“His words were, ‘Hello, Aunty Joy, I’ve got a decision made by the board that you don’t do Welcome (to Country) today, but you can join in the cultural performance,” she told ABC News.
“When I got in, he said (the reason for the cancellation) was about the booing that happened (in the morning) and something like protecting or looking after you.
“I said, ‘I don’t need protecting and I don’t understand it.’ but anyhow I asked, ‘Could the board reconsider?’ and he said, ‘No’.”
Earlier that day, Bunurong and Gunditjmara elder Mark Brown was interrupted by a group of people while he was delivering a Welcome to Country at Melbourne’s Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance.
Aunty Joy’s father, Sapper James Henry Wandin, was a veteran who fought for Australia in World War 1.
She arrived at AAMI park wearing her father’s medals to honour all the service men and women who fought for Australia including her father.
Two First Nations groups were also scheduled to perform, but after the confusion, they all decided to cancel their performances.
“We spoke with Justin Rodski (Melbourne Storm’s CEO) and executives with all of us. They came back after that discussion and apologised, but after reconsidering, we all came to the decision to boycott,” Djirri Djirri dancers and Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin said in a statement.
“We strongly regard this as being totally tokenistic and goes completely against their journey of reconciliation and we feel very disrespected. We stand with and follow the directions of our staunch Elders.
“What we do isn’t a performance, it’s a cultural ceremony and protocol. We strongly feel this action taken by Melbourne Storm was unnecessary and has caused us hurt and disbelief in what we thought was a good relationship.”
The Melbourne-based rugby club acknowledged and accepted the timing and miscommunication on Friday has caused damage, and apologised for this.
The Melbourne Storm released a statement and said there was a clear misunderstanding between the board and management on Friday which caused confusion with the pre-game cultural ceremony.
“The board asked for clarification about the sequencing of the Anzac Day ceremony, and we were not aware that a Welcome to Country was to be performed. We had agreed at the start of the year that a Welcome to Country would be delivered at multicultural round and Indigenous Round and would always have an acknowledgment of country when appropriate,” Storm Chairman, Matt Tripp, said in the statement.
“Once we understood the programming from management, we gave the green light to progress. By then, it was understandably too late for those who had already been informed of our earlier decision.
“There was some confusion on Friday and we take responsibility for that. I know there were some disappointed groups and individuals involved and we apologise for the misunderstanding and will be meeting with them to clear this up.”
The club promised to continue to have discussions with First Nations and Māori communities to understand and strengthen their ongoing relationship.
