Get rid of Welcome to Countries at the footy – only use it sparingly at big official conferences: Indigenous leader Warren Mundine makes big call

DAILYMAIL.COM • 2h ago

By JOSH ALSTON, SPORTS REPORTER 04:02 12 Oct 2026, updated 04:13 12 Oct 2026

Indigenous leader Warren Mundine has called for Welcome to Country ceremonies to be removed from sporting events after fans loudly booed an elder before the Australia Cup final in Melbourne.

The former Labor national president turned occasional Liberal candidate said a gesture that was intended to bring Australians together had become divisive through overuse and, in some instances, people using it to promote their own political views.

His comments follow the booing of Wurundjeri elder Uncle Colin Hunter Jr as he delivered the ceremony before South Melbourne’s clash with Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park on Saturday night.

‘People are sick of it, quite frankly. And I’m sick of it as well,’ Mundine told the Daily Mail.

On whether the ceremony should be removed from sport completely, he replied: ‘To be quite honest, yes.’

‘I might be old fashioned, but when I used to go to the footy, we just got on with the game.’

Mundine, a Bundjalung man who chaired Tony Abbott’s Indigenous Advisory Council and was a leading campaigner against the Voice to Parliament, said he had initially liked the welcoming gesture.

He compared it to inviting someone into his home.

‘It’s like people coming to my house and knock on the door, and I say, welcome and come in,’ he said.

But he argued the repeated use of Welcome and Acknowledgments of Country across meetings, flights and other settings had pushed it too far.

‘It’s a good idea for very formal occasions,’ he said.

Mundine suggested a major international conference bringing thousands of visitors to Australia was an appropriate setting.

‘And that’s about as far as you should be taking it. It shouldn’t be done anywhere else.’

Mundine said he had feared for several years that the way the ceremonies were being used would provoke a backlash.

‘Something that was gonna bring us together… is now dividing us,’ he said.

‘I think this is gonna happen more often.’

For international sporting fixtures, Mundine said flags and national anthems should be sufficient before play begins.

‘You have the Australian flag,’ he added, outlining a pre-match format featuring both countries’ anthems.

Mundine also claimed some people had used Welcome to Country ceremonies to push their own political agendas.

‘It was getting hijacked by people that were pushing their own political agendas and whinging and complaining and carrying on,’ he said.

‘So, yeah, I’m not surprised this is happening.’

He recalled attending a function several weeks ago where he believed the person delivering the welcome had used it to promote personal views.

‘He used it for his own personal views to push certain things that he wanted rather than actually being a Welcome to Country,’ he said.

Mundine said he remained seated until the speaker finished.

‘I did the polite thing. I just sat there and let it finish… but I was totally disgusted with it.’

He urged sporting administrators and other leaders to reconsider their approach.

‘They’ve gotta wake up,’ he said. ‘Start bringing this country back together.’

The comments come after anti-racism campaigners demanded public apologies from South Melbourne, Melbourne Victory and Football Australia over the scenes before kick-off.

Frankie Antispe, Australians Against Racism group administrator, urged supporters to contact the organisations and demand condemnation of the booing and accountability for those responsible.

‘As an anti-racism community, we cannot let this slide,’ Antispe wrote.

The Football Supporters Association Australia also condemned the behaviour in a statement released on Sunday.

‘The FSAA vehemently condemns the booing and jeering that occurred during the Welcome to Country ceremony prior to kickoff,’ it said.

The association described the ceremony as an expression of hospitality, inclusivity, unity and respect, and said hostility from a section of supporters was ‘deeply disappointing’.

It also stressed Australian football’s connections to Indigenous, migrant and multicultural communities.

The controversy followed a historic victory for South Melbourne, which became the first NPL club to win the Australia Cup.

South came from behind to draw 1–1 with Victory before winning 4–3 on penalties in front of a sellout crowd of 29,911.

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