Respect for indigenous culture does not mean sovereignty

The Family First Party fully supports barrister and Victorian Bar Council member Lana Collaris’s principled stance on the “Welcome to Country” acknowledgments.

Collaris’s decision not to participate in these acknowledgments is not an act of disrespect toward Aboriginal Australians or their culture.

Instead, it is a stand against the misleading implications these ceremonies often carry, particularly the suggestion that Indigenous Australians are the sovereign rulers of this land.

As Collaris rightly pointed out, these acknowledgments are often presented as expressions of respect, yet the underlying message they send is politically charged. “Acknowledgments of country are not about respect, as most people would understand that word,” she states, emphasizing that true respect for Indigenous Australians lies in celebrating their culture and holding them to the same standards as all other Australians.

Chris Merritt, in his article for The Australian this week, echoes this sentiment, criticising the propagation of the myth that there were once sovereign Aboriginal nations on this continent.

Merritt asserts that “there have never been sovereign Aboriginal nations on this continent,” a reality that is often glossed over in the fashionable delusion of modern narratives.

The High Court of Australia, in cases such as Coe v Commonwealth, has consistently rejected the notion of Aboriginal sovereignty. This legal reality underscores Collaris’s position that these acknowledgments inadvertently support a divisive and historically inaccurate view of Australian society.

Family First believes that all Australians, regardless of race, should be recognised equally under the law.

By refusing to engage in these politically motivated acknowledgments, Collaris is advocating for an Australia where citizenship, not race, is the defining principle.

Her stance is a call for unity and equality, values that should be at the heart of our nation’s identity.

Lyle Shelton is National Director of the Family First Party. He started his career as a rural journalist before being elected as a member of the Toowoomba City Council and serving the Australian Christian Lobby for 10 years, half of that decade as ACL's Managing Director. He was a Director and spokesman for the Coalition for Marriage during the 2017 postal survey campaign which resulted in the legal undefinition of marriage. He also blogs here.