It's reported that the Brisbane council alone has paid over $135,000 for myriad 'Welcome to Country' organisers over the past two years. In total it seems that across Australia the 'Welcome to Country' business is worth in excess of $2 million per annum.

Payments are made by all sorts of groups from Government (Federal. State and Local) to sporting groups to concert organisers. It seems impossible to attend an AFL match these days without the game being delayed while some blow-in welcomes the crowd to the arena. And this isn't just senior games but all the way down to junior matches - my grandson's Grand Final required the obligatory Welcome.

Few listen to what is being said. Fewer care. But if you do listen you'll be told utter tripe such as claims that these Welcomes have been part of aboriginal culture for 250,000 years!!

But the truth is that they are a recent invention, created by Ernie Dingo back in 1976 because some Pacific Islander group wanted to be ceremonially welcomed. So he made up a dance and a sufficiently flowery speech and, hey presto, a tradition was born.

Of coarse, all this good is for those aboriginals, or ABBAriginals, who can get in on the act. Wear the skins of some dead animal, play a didgeridoo if you can, make some made-up speech and assertions, collect the payment at the office.

Perhaps we should consider it a form of reparations. Except, as usual, the people who need it, those in the outback shanties or the native women in domestic violence shelters, miss out. But the well connected urban carpet-baggers make a motza, and that's the main thing!!

It gets worse than that.
When a developer or farmer wants to make some changers the local indig
group has to do an inspection, for a fee of course.
It was this practice that got out of hand in WA where fees got to very
high amounts and the legislation was repealed.
Not sure what goes on here in NSW.
Can anyone enlighten us ?

My concern with wtc is that I am unaware of who wants it or voted for it, yet there seems to be obeyence to it in order to avoid consequences. Disgustingly authoritarian.

That is how easy it is. The indig of AU were here first ok. So when was the negotiation of change of ownership ever happen. Now the indig can talk English. So lets negotiate.
Until England unloaded it's cargo on AU shores with rats, rabbits and foxes and pigs everything was good.
England is the culprit, so what is their share of invasion. To this day AU still cannot stand alone we are subjects of England.
The loudest voices in AU today are x poms and 10 pound poms and they are largely far right politically minded no matter what. Hitler was extreme right. Lets see how that works out or not.

As long as thousands of Australians at, say, a football match, tolerate being preached at by a solitary person waffling about being welcome in their own country, the nonsense will continue.

Don't welcome me to my own country.