Welcome to Country ceremonies have been ousted from a North Queensland council following advice from an Aboriginal corporation.
It is understood Burdekin Shire Council voted to adopt its own protocol for the practice.
Mayor Pierina Dalle Cort has also told the Townsville Bulletin the organisation was no longer holding Welcome to Country ceremonies.
Meeting minutes from the council, seen by the publication, said the authority has introduced the change on legal advice based on correspondence from the Kyburra Munda Yulga Aboriginal Corporation.
‘We’re just keeping to our own place, we don’t have Welcome to Country, we don’t do that here and that’s it basically,’ Ms Dalle Cort said.Â
The Juru people of the Shire of Burdekin announced in December last year that they would end Welcome to Country ceremonies on their land.
Speaking to 4BC on Wednesday, Juru Elder Randall Ross said Elders had met to agree on the decision due to misuse and a feeling that the practice had lost cultural significance.
‘We’re only speaking for our country and that’s why it’s important that we can see it well and truly being abused,’ he told Bill McDonald.Â
A North Queensland council has stopped Welcome to Country ceremonies (pictured, players pause for Welcome to Country during the 2025 AFLW Round 03 match)
‘It makes us feel embarrassed,’ he said, adding that Elders from the Burdekin region had seen from people who weren’t local who were paid for delivering it.
‘Welcome to Country has become a business that supports certain individuals and that’s where they are losing the cultural insight about what the Welcome to Country’s are about.
‘This is a stand that we are taking in our particular area, and I think it’s been long overdue.’
Ms Dalle Cort welcomed the decision by the Juru people to stop the ceremonies on their land.Â
‘I can’t get into a political nightmare here but all I can say is I’m happy to work with the traditional owners,’ she told Newscorp outlets at the time.Â
‘We had the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ vote (Voice referendum) and that vote should have been listened to at that time as well.Â
‘We’re multicultural, we’re one country and we’ve all got to learn to live and work together.
‘It’ll probably be an early Christmas present to a lot of people. I’ve already had some responses from people saying things like, “Finally common sense has prevailed”.’
Juru Elder Randall Ross (pictured) confirmed that Elders had met to agree it was time to stop delivering Welcome to Country ceremonies due to a feeling that they had been ‘abused’
In May this year, the council then decided not to hold a Welcome to Country ceremony at the Sweet Days, Hot Nights festival.
A representative from the Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation, based at the Home Hill showgrounds, has previously delivered the ceremony at the event.
Legal advice reportedly recommended the ceremony not be performed – a move endorsed by council members.
Daily Mail has contacted Kyburra Munda Yulga Aboriginal Corporation and Burdekin Shire Council for comment.Â
A Welcome to Country is a traditional Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander ceremony in which the local custodians formally welcome visitors to their ancestral lands.
While widely seen as a gesture of respect, its growing presence in official settings has become a flashpoint in Australia’s culture wars.
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North Queensland council bans Welcome to Country: ‘We don’t do that here’