Jacinta Price slammed the Welcome to Country at the State of Origin after an Indigenous elder encouraged Australians to vote ‘Yes’ on the upcoming Voice to Parliament.
The NRL included an official Welcome to Country by Uncle Karl Winda Telfer before the national anthem was sung at the series opener on Wednesday evening.
Dressed in ceremonial garb, Telfer addressed the crowd and said, ‘I am, and we are, the first voice from the first people of the first day.
‘Today, we are not about pushing people apart. We are about the union.
‘In this great game, in this great country, we need to have the conversations leading up to the end of this year.
‘And I think we are mature enough to make the right call, yeah?’
Like many footy fans, Ms Price didn’t appreciate the Voice to Parliament referendum being mentioned during the welcome.
‘I’m sick and tired of these acknowledgements of nothing more than my racial heritage. It’s every single day, I acknowledge and pay my respects and recognise Indigenous First Nations people in the room, what for?’ she told 2GB radio.
‘Why are we being singled out purely, only, because of our race? It’s divisive, it’s unnecessary and doesn’t actually create any beneficial outcome for anybody.
‘It’s becoming a little bit narcissistic to be quite honest.’
Indigenous senator Jacinta Price has blasted the Welcome to Country at Game 1 of the State of Origin series performed by Uncle Karl Winda Telfer (pictured)
Like many footy fans, Indigenous senator Jacinta Price didn’t appreciate the Voice to Parliament referendum being mentioned during the Uncle Karl Winda Telfer’s speech
The Shadow Indigenous Australians minister has been a leading figure in the movement opposing the Voice to Parliament.
Ms Price said the Voice ‘doesn’t represent’ Indigenous people.
‘It’s about those who are privileged who have access to money, have access to stadiums pushing their agenda,’ she said.
Many footy fans also took offence to the Welcome, with one accusing Uncle Karl Winder Telfer of ‘demanding that we vote yes to the voice’.
Others insisted that politics be kept separate from sport.
‘Oh right – now the welcome to country is now a push for the yes vote. ‘I’ve turned the TV off. Not watching this woke s**t. Keep politics out of footy,’ wrote one fan.
‘That so called Welcome to Country was a political statement, that went over like a lead balloon,’ a second wrote.
A third shared: ‘Did anyone see the direct political interference at #origin by the aboriginal welcome to country dude demanding that we vote yes to the voice. Demanding that we vote yes.’
‘When did the ‘Welcome to Country’ become a gratuitous political statement?’ said another.
However, other fans watching the speech from Telfer thought he hit the right notes.
‘What a cracker welcome to country. Go Queensland. Go the #Voice #Origin,’ tweeted a fan.
‘What a great Welcome to Country. Proud to be an Aussie,’ said another.
Some footy fans felt like Uncle Karl Winder Telfer was pushing a Yes vote with his speech
Ms Price said the Voice to Parliament ‘doesn’t represent’ Indigenous people (pictured, Indigenous dancers perform game one of the 2023 State of Origin series)
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured last week) celebrated the passing of the Constitutional Alteration Bill through the House of Representatives
It comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese celebrated the passing of the Constitutional Alteration Bill through the House of Representatives.
‘We’re one step closer to recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution,’ he tweeted on Wednesday.
It comes just weeks after Ms Price accused the ABC of biased support for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
She said ABC lacked ‘balance’ after it emerged three of its most prominent presenters gave promotional quotes for a book in the support of the Voice.
Quotes from 7.30’s Laura Tingle, Radio National host Patricia Karvelas and ABC Canberra’s Dan Bourchier appear on the cover of Thomas Mayo’s Finding the Heart of the Nation book.
‘As a publicly funded broadcaster, the ABC must pull its people into line and ensure balanced reporting,’ Senator Price said.
Single called the Uluru Statement – which has led to the upcoming referendum on the Voice – a ‘truly transformational gift … if only we take it’.
Karvelas said the book was ‘a profound piece of work that asks us to consider a future where First Nations people … are placed at the heart of our country.’
Bourchier said the Voice was ‘a powerful reminder of the gift from the Elders and a call to action to all Australians’.
