Louisa Bonner has defended criticism of her Welcome to Country at the AFLW preliminary final between Brisbane and Carlton, saying she wants to “see some action”.

Bonner, who is the grandniece Neville Bonner the first Indigenous Australian to become a federal member of parliament, delivered a lengthy address before the game, highlighting a number of issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

“Before proceeding with today’s formalities, I wish to briefly draw attention to a national crisis affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in youth detention,” she said on Saturday.

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“Our children remain disproportionately represented in the systems and are too often treated, not as young people deserving care, protection and opportunity but as numbers within the structures that serve political and economic interests rather than community wellbeing.

Louisa Bonner speaks at the AFLW final.  Fox Footy

“The drivers of this crisis are well known – the ongoing impacts of colonisation, systemic racism, limited recognition of sovereignty, resistance to Indigenous leadership and continued land and economic dispossession. These issues are matters of social justice, human rights, and legal responsibility.”

She also complimented the Brisbane Lions in supporting her programs.

3AW’s Tom Elliott described the speech as “completely inappropriate”, calling it “90 per cent politics and 10 per cent actually welcoming supporters to the ground”.

Indigenous former politician Warren Mundine also criticised the speech on 2GB.

“One, it started out as a Welcome to Country. Then it lost its way and went into a political statement and then it went into an advertisement for her business,” the ex-Liberal MP and anti-Voice campaigner said.

Bonner’s speech was applauded by all players from Carlton and Brisbane.

Carlton players applaud the speech.  Fox Footy

Speaking in The Age today, Bonner explained exactly why she spoke up for her people.

“I just wanted to share with the community and, hopefully, trigger people talking, and someone might come and ask me: ‘What’s going on there [in the Indigenous community]?'” Bonner said.

“I just want the Australian public to know that everything is not what it seems or sounds to be like. We have all this government structure out there, and they think blackfellas are getting everything.

“Most white, mainstream communities think we get everything. As long as they are prepared to open their mouths, I don’t care. I will set them on the right path and tell them the truth about what’s really happening. I just want to see some action.”

Bonner said she would forward a “very nasty email” she received to the police.