The "Welcome to Country" protests

have to stop.

I know, I have written about this elsewhere and others will write about it today. They will say it is "disrespectful" and more.

Yes, it is "disrespectful" but it is disrespectful on more than one level. It is disrespectful of the person delivering the address. They have been asked to do something. I may not agree with what they are doing but they have been asked to do it. In the highly unlikely event I was the one delivering the address I would expect people to at least be quiet. No, you don't have to pay attention. You can think about anything else but be polite. Do not interrupt. 

It is disrespectful to people whose ancestors lived here before white settlement. Does that matter? Yes, it does. My ancestors came from Scotland. If someone without Scots ancestry turned up at the Caledonian Society and booed a traditional welcome there I would feel, at very least, uncomfortable especially if it was done on Burns Night or St Andrew's Day or Hogmanay. No, they are not "sacred" but they often mean something special to Scots.

The booing at yesterday's ANZAC ceremonies goes further than that. It was disrespectful to all service personnel everywhere. That is unacceptable. It is the sort of behaviour that would come from the louts who might have done much more serious harm to the little war memorial had my friend's husband not gone and stood quietly there two days ago. 

But I also believe any "welcome" or "acknowledgment" is inappropriate at any time. It is especially inappropriate on this occasion.  It is a political act where no political act should be present. The "welcome" and the "acknowledgment" ceremonies are political acts. They are not welcoming. They are designed to divide us, to remind us of claims about "theft", thefts in which none of us had any part but for which we are told we must be held accountable. All too often they are delivered by people whose own ancestors are among those being welcomed. How do you reconcile that? 

For service personnel this must be particularly difficult. Those few left who served in WWII must find it even more difficult. ANZAC Day should be about the men and women who served this country, nothing more and nothing less.