An Australian job applicant has been left perplexed after a hiring manager kicked off an interview with a Welcome to Country.
Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council CEO Nathan Moran has voiced concerns that people just repeating Welcome to Country over and over again could downplay the importance of it.
Mr Moran and Leading ‘No’ Voice referendum campaigner Warren Mundine joined Sky News host Danica Di Giorgio to debate whether Welcome to Country make us feel unwelcome in our country.
Mr Moran said that the Welcome to Country is about inclusion however voiced concerns about it being trivialised.
“I just hope it’s delivered in the right way by the right people, for myself who’s a representative of the Aboriginal community, we’re a democratic community, we have elected representatives who go out and represent us.
“My concern is those things when they’re not done by those who are authorised for the community.
“People must be the actual community representatives delivering welcomes and or acknowledgements to people.
“I am concerned but that people are just repeating does downplay the importance of it.
“Although I acknowledge the fine line between one trying to respect it and honour it, versus yeah maybe just repeatedly saying something that then becomes meaningless at the end of the day is a great concern.”
The candidate took to Reddit to detail the “weird and unnecessary” act after they applied for a customer service role with an insurance company.
According to the job applicant, the incident occurred at the start of the group interview involving less than five candidates.
“I wanted to get others’ opinions on this as I thought it was peak Australian corporate culture,” the applicant wrote.
An internet user has detailed how a hiring manager started a job interview with a Welcome to Country. Picture: CHP
“At the time I didn’t give it a second thought but in retrospect it’s pretty weird and unnecessary.”
“The (anglo) hiring manager took it upon himself to do a welcome to country.”
The Reddit user said they understood companies performing Welcome to Country for “big” or “important” meetings with higher-ups, but said at a job interview it “just felt pointless”.
Some were quick to side with the applicant, saying it was not necessary.
Welcome to Country ceremonies have become standard at most major public events across sport, entertainment and politics. Picture: Getty.
“It feels pointless to me at every meeting,” one said.
“We used to do one at the start of every all hands at a company I worked at pre COVID. It was cringy AF and clearly read off a script/not heartfelt,” another said.
Others pointed out the Welcome to Country was not appropriate given the manager was apparently not Indigenous.
“Unless the manager is Indigenous, it should have been an Acknowledgement of Country anyway,” one comment read.
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Another user described the act as “Orwellian”.
“It is unbelievable how utterly weird corporations have become in recent years. The dishonesty and detachment from reality is extraordinary,” they said.
“The idea behind it all seems to be to try and gaslight the rest of society as some kind of Orwellian ploy to shape perceptions of reality.”
Welcome to Country ceremonies have become standard at most major public events across sport, entertainment and politics, with most Australian airlines now incorporating the acknowledgement into their landing announcements.
Western Sydney Councillor Steve Christou earlier this year revealed he would dump both Welcome to Country and smoking ceremonies if his party Our Local Community won the majority at the upcoming local government elections in September.
He told Sky News Australia about his plan, claiming the ceremonies made most Australians “feel unwelcome”.
Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council CEO Nathan Moran has voiced concerns that people just repeating Welcome to Country over and over again could downplay the importance of it.
Mr Moran and Leading ‘No’ Voice referendum campaigner Warren Mundine joined Sky News host Danica Di Giorgio to debate whether Welcome to Country make us feel unwelcome in our country.
Mr Moran said that the Welcome to Country is about inclusion however voiced concerns about it being trivialised.
“I just hope it’s delivered in the right way by the right people, for myself who’s a representative of the Aboriginal community, we’re a democratic community, we have elected representatives who go out and represent us.
“My concern is those things when they’re not done by those who are authorised for the community.
“People must be the actual community representatives delivering welcomes and or acknowledgements to people.
“I am concerned but that people are just repeating does downplay the importance of it.
“Although I acknowledge the fine line between one trying to respect it and honour it, versus yeah maybe just repeatedly saying something that then becomes meaningless at the end of the day is a great concern.”
“Quite frankly, the welcome to country ceremony has become overdone, watered down, and people are sick of it being shoved down their throats,” he told Sky News Australia host Andrew Bolt.
Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council CEO Nathan Moran has also voiced concerns the repetition of Welcome to Country ceremonies downplays the meaning of them.
“I just hope it’s delivered in the right way by the right people, for myself who’s a representative of the Aboriginal community, we’re a democratic community, we have elected representatives who go out and represent us,” he said.
“Although I acknowledge the fine line between one trying to respect it and honour it, versus yeah maybe just repeatedly saying something that then becomes meaningless at the end of the day is a great concern.”