When booing rang out as Uncle Ray Minniecon delivered the Acknowledgement of Country he knew he needed to remain composed.
“Part of your military training is just to go through any kind of conflict, or any kind of tension that’s there, and just do what you need to do,” he later told the ABC.
The jeers could be heard for more than a minute as Uncle Ray spoke at Saturday’s service in Sydney — with similar scenes playing out during the Welcome to Country in Melbourne and Perth.
For Uncle Ray it is sad but not surprising.
Uncle Ray says he knew he had to remain composed during the booing incident. (ABC News: Kris Flanders)
He said he had noticed racism toward First Nations people escalate in the wake of the 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum.
“[It] seems like there’s some more of a legitimacy to attack us Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people more, which is sad,” he said.
“It does ask that deeper question, you know, ‘Why do they hate us? What’s the reason?.'”
In the lead up to Anzac Day, anti-immigration and nationalist group Fight For Australia posted a video of Bunurong man Uncle Mark Brown being booed while delivering the Welcome to Country at last year’s dawn service in Melbourne.
Text over the clip reads: “How loud will you be this year?”.
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RSL Australia president Peter Tinley said they had been aware of the post but there was little the organisation could do.
“A lot of these cenotaphs and memorials are at public places,” he said.
“If it gets any worse, potentially [hecklers] may have to be removed and we will stop ceremonies if we have to.
“And that will be a sad day.”
Mr Tinley said the organisation is also investigating reports that veterans were among those who booed.
People ’emboldened’ to express racist views
Tasmanian Liberal Senator Jonno Duniam said the rise in public displays of racism raises concerns that community cohesion is “going out the door”.
“I think that people need to remember what actually keeps us together and threads this country together so strongly, and that is our unity, our Australian ideals, our tolerance of one another’s views and beliefs, our respect for others’ opinions,” he said.
“That is something that used to be a great Australian hallmark.”
Ms Hosch says you can’t control what happens in a crowd but there are strategies that can be put in place. (Supplied: Salty Dingo)
Tanya Hosch led the implementation of the AFL’s enhanced Indigenous strategy in the wake of several racist incidents in the code, including the Adam Goodes booing saga.
She said there were several ways to deal with a person being disruptive at a public gathering.
“There are strategies that can be employed, but they do take a coordinated effort and it is a draw on resources,” she said.
“That includes ensuring that there are enough people who can help with the reporting on who it is, because obviously finding those people in a crowd is difficult.
“It’s not about perfection, because you can’t control what happens in a crowd.”
Ms Hosch says the challenge is to show that racist ideologies are not a “shared view”. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)
She has also noticed that people feel increasingly “emboldened” to express racist views.
“I think that the failure of the referendum definitely sent some messages to people … that I think have created an environment where people feel a greater degree of freedom to voice their views around racist ideology,” she said.
“I think the challenge for all of us is to demonstrate consistently that this is not a shared view.”What Anzac Day means to those who have served Australia
Mr Tinley said RSL Australia will be reaching out to the federal government to discuss what measures they can take, and will also seek advice from the AFL about their own anti-racism policies.
But he said the nature of their work makes the situation difficult to manage across their more than 1,000 sub-branches.
“There’s not a contained environment like the AFL has with the grounds, for example,” he said.
“They can actually ban people for life. They can eject them and identify them. We don’t necessarily have that capacity.”
All have a responsibility to ‘call out disrespect’
WA Police issued 10 move-on notices at the Anzac Day dawn service in Perth’s Kings Park to people they said had been trying to disrupt the proceedings.
In Sydney, a 24-year-old man was arrested and charged for allegedly booing during the commemorations at Martin Place.
Ten move-on notices were issued in WA during the Anzac Day dawn service in Perth’s Kings Park. (ABC News: Lauren Smith)
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said officers responded quickly, but it was up to everyone to condemn the behaviour.
“Our police do an incredible job but they cannot prevent everything from occurring,” she said.
“It’s important that we all remember that we all have a responsibility to call out this disrespect when we see it.”
Ms Hosch agreed that stronger public awareness was crucial.
“Australia has, for a very, very long time, had a reluctance to call racism what it is,” she said.
“We need a greater amount of fluency and understanding about racism and how it is demonstrated … and how damaging it is to the social fabric of this country.”
When Uncle Ray was asked about his reaction to the booing, he said: “It was water off a duck’s back.”
“I think what we’ve been doing and will continue to do, based on our ancestors, is just to stand strong, stand tall, know who we are, where we come from, and that this is Aboriginal land,” he said.
“That kind of truth will never be destroyed.”