Australian prime minister condemns anti-Indigenous rights protests
during war dead commemorations
[April 25, 2025]
By ROD McGUIRK
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
condemned anti-Indigenous rights protesters who disrupted two Anzac Day
dawn services on Friday as hundreds of thousands gathered across the
nation to commemorate their war dead.
“The disruption of Anzac Day is beyond contempt and the people
responsible must face the full force of the law,” Albanese told
reporters.
“This was an act of low cowardice on a day when we honor courage and
sacrifice,” he added.
The protests come during a heightened political atmosphere ahead of
general elections on May 3 in which Indigenous rights are a campaign
issue.
April 25, 1915 was the day when the newly-formed Australia and New
Zealand Army Corps landed on the beaches of Gallipoli, in northwest
Turkey, in an ill-fated campaign that was the soldiers’ first combat of
World War I.
It is considered Australia’s most unifying national holiday and a sacred
day when political point-scoring and protest are generally avoided.
Protesters disrupt dawn services in Melbourne and Perth
A group of hecklers including self-described Nazi Jacob Hersant booed
and jeered during a dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance in
Melbourne where 50,000 gathered.
In Perth, a lone man yelled briefly during a dawn service at Kings Park
before the 25,000 people who surrounded him persuaded him to stay
silent, a police statement said. The man left soon after.
The disruptions were triggered in both cities by the so-called Welcome
to Country ceremony, which is held at the outset of many Australian
public events in which Indigenous leaders welcome visitors to their
traditional land.
The Melbourne-based First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, an Indigenous
advocacy group, said in a statement it “strongly condemns the racist
attack during the Welcome to Country” in Melbourne.
Prime minister labels protests “disgrace”
Albanese said the disruptions in both Melbourne and Perth were a
“disgrace.”
“There is no place in Australia for what occurred,” Albanese said.
In Melbourne, the interruptions continued after the Welcome to Country
at any mention by speakers of Indigenous soldiers or traditional owners
of Australia.
Hecklers yelled “this is our country” and “we don’t have to be
welcomed,” echoing a slogan of the minor party Trumpet of Patriots. The
party’s extensive advertising is funded by mining magnate Clive Palmer
and party officials say they are inspired by U.S. President Donald
Trump’s policies.
The hecklers were drowned out by the applause of others who urged the
speakers to continue.
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Jacob Hersant speaks outside the Melbourne Magistrates' Court in
Melbourne, Australia, on Nov. 8, 2024, before his is sentenced after
he was convicted for performing the Nazi salute. (AP Photo/Rod
McGuirk, FILE)
Lawmakers in the opposition conservative Liberal Party have
complained that Welcome to Country ceremonies have become too
prevalent and cost the center-left Labor Party government 452,953
Australian dollars ($289,602) over two years.
Opposition leader defends Indigenous ceremony
But opposition leader Peter Dutton on Friday defended the place of
such Indigenous ceremonies on Anzac Day.
“Welcome to Country is an important part of official ceremonies and
it should be respected. I don’t agree with the booing and I don’t
agree, in our democracy, that people can’t accept the views of
others,” Dutton told reporters. “We have a proud Indigenous heritage
in this country and we should be proud to celebrate it as part of
today.”
Police were seen escorting Hersant away from the Melbourne service.
Hersant is a leader of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network and
last year became the first person in Australia to be sentenced to
prison for performing an outlawed Nazi salute.
He remains free on bail because his appeal against a one-month
prison sentence has yet to be heard.
“They want to humiliate us over and over again,” Hersant told
reporters before police led him away, referring to Indigenous
leaders. .
Hersant’s lawyer did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for
comment on Friday.
Victoria and Western Australia state police respond
Victoria Police confirmed a 26-year-old Melbourne man had been
directed to leave the service. They did not confirm the suspect's
identity in accordance with its usual policy.
The suspect had been interviewed over an allegation of offensive
behavior and would be issued a summons to appear in court, a police
statement said.
Video showed at least one other protester repeating a white
supremacist slogan being dragged away from the service by a member
of the public.
Western Australia Police Force said the Perth service disruption
remained under investigation.
“The Anzac Day service is a solemn commemoration and any disorderly
behavior at such commemorations will not be tolerated by police,” a
police statement said.
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