Amanda Vanstone | Our Welcome to Country can be more inclusive

Some Welcome to Country greetings are frankly terrible. They are insulting, make people feel interlopers in their own country and end up leaving people less than welcome, in fact aggravated and possibly angry. The ceremony is marketed as a welcome but it's a service you pay for.

The fact that there's a fee for the welcome makes it frankly ridiculous. "Here's my fee for making you feel bad". The fee is often not inconsequential.

Does it go to help Indigenous people in remote and far remote communities? You know the answer.

I've been to a few that I've felt are just a chimera of what could be, a few that were angry and insulting and others where the welcome was a light hearted start to a long day but still with a little twist of interlopers attached.

Recently I was present for one that was different. Absolutely stellar.

The young man spoke predominantly in English but appropriately used some of his traditional language. It's a reminder that the spirits of long ago used that language. He told us the spirits that had passed through here welcomed us all, that we all belong here and we are all welcome. It's our land. It was absolutely beautiful and respectful .

Some religions believe in life after death. If you've been in a room when someone's packaging dies you might get the idea that despite the dead packaging there is something else there. I certainly felt it when my mother died. Speak to nurses. In any event if you don't believe in spirits, Indigenous people do.

Australia is spiritually Indigenous land. Their ownership was unlike Western ownership and far more akin to stewardship. It was a responsibility to look after the land, not dig it up or trade it. There was for all - and still is for many - a deep spiritual connection to their country. To deny that is just wilfully aggressive and ignorant.

Equally, so much has happened since settlement that to deny all of that is just as stupid.

It can't be impossible to find words of acknowledgment so that we can walk forward together. It's a goose/gander thing. An acknowledgment of country that goes on to recognise what we together have achieved might be a good place to start.

Here's how I envisage it could run.

"I acknowledge we meet on the traditional lands of the (insert for Adelaide) Kaurna people. I acknowledge the Commonwealth of Australia of which this state (or territory) is a part. I acknowledge our head of state (optional: King Charles III) and his representatives in Australia. I acknowledge and express gratitude for the system of government we all enjoy which has given so much opportunity and freedom to so many people from across the globe. I am proud to be part of a stable, peaceful nation that can freely choose who should form a government and has the capacity to change that government should it not meet our expectations."

I think we need to remind ourselves of just what our predecessors have created for us.

MORE AMANDA VANSTONE:

Being a republican I would mention the head of state by name, because it is a healthy reminder of the need for change. But that debate is for another day.

Watching the recent coronation of King Charles III, I was somewhat taken aback by all the old-fashioned robes and furs and what we might simplistically refer to as fancy dress. But those things represent a tradition that reflects a process by which we came to enjoy peaceful and stable government. Try living in an autocracy and see if you then recognise what we've got.

Laugh as you may at the special cushion, or glove or crown ... it represents a tradition that has delivered in spades for those of us in the free world. By that I mean we are free, we choose our government, we can criticise our government freely without fear of reprisal against us or our family, and we cannot arbitrarily have our freedoms taken from us by administrative fiat of an autocrat. We have opportunity.

It's true that the woke amongst us and the "me too" movement seem intent on being able to destroy careers and livelihoods at whim but I believe we will come to our senses and discard these self indulgent, power hungry obsessives in good time. We will return to demanding due process before lives are ruined.

Universities around the globe seem to be a feeding ground or base station for wokeness. They are meant to be the bastions of freedom but occasionally show signs of becoming the equivalent of a Stasi office. Guess what, they love their fancy robes, floppy hats and it's rumoured academic titles are hotly contested.

So how is it that one must conduct oneself with appropriate solemnity at a smoking ceremony or a graduation but can poke fun at a coronation ceremony which symbolises the pathway to the freedoms we all enjoy. "You must revere my customs and traditions but I can smirk and poke fun at yours" is just ugly.

So I'm in favour of an acknowledgment of country and of acknowledging what we've built together. That might work a treat.