Tony Jones outlines ‘the problem the AFL MUST address’ as Aussie broadcaster wades into Welcome to Country ceremony that has sparked outrage

Tony Jones says the AFL has a big problem to address in the wake of the Welcome to Country ceremony which sparked outrage in Sydney.  

Brendan Kerin, a cultural educator with Sydney’s Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, gave the address before the game between the GWS Giants and Brisbane Lions on Saturday night and said such ceremonies were ‘not for white people’.

The frequency of the welcomes has been criticised by some fans, and Mr Kerin addressed that in his speech.

‘I’m here this evening to perform a ceremony of Welcome to Country… a Welcome to Country is not a welcome to Australia,’ Mr Kerin said.

‘Within Australia we have many Aboriginal lands and we refer to our lands as “country”. So it’s always a welcome to the lands you’ve gathered on.

‘A Welcome to Country is not a ceremony we’ve invented to cater for white people.

‘It’s a ceremony we’ve been doing for 250,000 years-plus BC – and the BC stands for Before Cook.’

The speech saw ripples of laughter emanate from the stands, while high-profile footy figures like Tony Shaw labelled the AFL ‘a weak politically correct organisation’ in the aftermath.

The ceremony conducted by Brendan Kerin divided opinion in Australia on Saturday

Jones believes the ceremony should unite the country but Saturday’s did the opposite

And Nine’s presenter Jones believes that the AFL needs to be firmer in preventing Welcome to County ceremonies from becoming ‘personal agendas’. 

‘I just get the sense there’s an outcry of sorts after the Welcome to Country at Saturday night’s AFL semi-final in Sydney,’ he said on 3AW Melbourne. 

‘Now whether you agree with Welcome to Country or not, I think football fans show a fair degree of respect. But there’s a problem. There’s a problem and the AFL must address this. 

‘This is an observance during Saturday night’s Welcome to Country… there was laughter through it, and I’ll tell you why: because these Welcomes they’re not, and should not be, personal agendas. 

‘They shouldn’t be there for political statements per se and I’m not sure whether the AFL vets the scripts, maybe they will as of now because those comments did not go down well with a number of people in the crowd. 

‘I think based on that alone, it’s counterproductive. I mean if this is all designed to unify Australia I think it’s creating division when we see or hear Welcomes like that.’ 

Pauline Hanson, the One Nation leader, waded into the saga with a scathing attack on social media. 

‘As I have said in the past, these Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country performances are one of the most racially divisive features of modern discourse in Australia,’ she posted on X.

‘Australians are sick and tired of them. They are sick of being told Australia is not their country, which is what these things effectively do.

‘Welcomes and acknowledgements deny the citizenship and sovereignty held equally by all Australians and they need to stop.’