Veteran’s brutal words for Channel Nine reporter who called out ‘disrespectful’ boos during Welcome to Country at Melbourne Anzac Day service

A veteran and a Channel 9 reporter had a heated debate after a known neo-Nazi booed during a Welcome to Country at an Anzac Day dawn service.

Thousands of people turned out under the cloak of pre-dawn darkness in Melbourne on Friday to commemorate those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. 

But the air of reverence for the Anzacs was broken during Bunurong elder Mark Brown’s Welcome to Country, when loud heckles and boos threatened to drown him out.

The ugly scenes sparked condemnation from across the political spectrum with Defence Minister Richard Marles describing those responsible as ‘idiots’ and Peter Dutton branding them ‘mentally unwell’.

But an apparent veteran has defended the disruptors in a heated exchange with a Channel Nine reporter in the aftermath of the service.

‘The reason why we’re here, is because our friends fought and died for this country, blood sweat and tears – like their ancestors did,’ the veteran told the reporter.

He questioned whether it was ‘the right time and place’ for a Welcome to Country.

‘I have a lot of veteran mates that haven’t come today solely because of the Welcome to Country. 

‘Because our friends died for this country, for this soil – and for them to be welcomed is a slap in the face.’

The reporter said he wasn’t suggesting there ‘aren’t people that feel that way’.

‘What I’m saying to you is, to get up there and boo during a sacred ceremony is going to be seen by a lot of people as disrespectful?’, he said. 

More to come.