Qantas Changes Acknowledgement of Country arrival Announcement

[BenP]

You can't be spot on 85% of the time

Spot on by definition is 100%.

 

[justinbrett]

It’s funny that BA doesn’t do an acknowledgement of first peoples.

 

[Daver6]

I wonder if any first nations folks on this forum would care to comment on their thoughts on the acknowledgement of country on landing?

I personally like it. It's educational and gives a sense of uniqueness to Australia and the long history of people living here.

As for the previous version that QF pays respect to elders, past, present and emerging I don't have a strong opinion on that. If it's meaningful to first nations people then that's good enough for me and I'm all for it. If they think it's a load of tokenistic bollocks then be done with it. One thing that's clear is the announcement in no ways impact me negatively. It's not like QF is holding my captive and delaying me for an extra 10 seconds to listen to the announcement.

For people who think the announcement is just tokenism, maybe it is. But what's the harm? Every QF flight just after take-off there is an even more tokenistic announcement that goes along the lines of this "If there is anything we can do to make your flight more enjoyable/comfortable, please don't hesitate to ask." Well when I'm in economy I could ask for a lot of things that fit that bill, but they won't do it. Tokenism there at it's best!

 

[TheRealTMA]

It’s funny that BA doesn’t do an acknowledgement of first peoples.

In that case, there's none of them left and it's really not possible to work out who they might have been anyway (Vikings excepted). When the first nations have been in a country for over 60K years, there's really no debate.

 

[servicerequired]

This seems to be a sensible announcement, and an improvement. The welcome home comment seems to negate any sentiment around being welcomed to somewhere where you already live.

They've always said welcome home.

It's a flight - take note of Emirates' no-nonsense safety video.

 

[justinbrett]

In that case, there's none of them left and it's really not possible to work out who they might have been anyway (Vikings excepted). When the first nations have been in a country for over 60K years, there's really no debate.

So we only acknowledge ancestors and people who have deep cultural and spiritual ties to the land if, and only if, they never faced contest from outside races?

Completely hypocritical if you ask me. You either respect all people’s heritage and cultural ties or you don’t respect anyone. We are all human.

 

[TheRealTMA]

So we only acknowledge ancestors and people who have deep cultural and spiritual ties to the land if, and only if, they never faced contest from outside races?

Completely hypocritical if you ask me. You either respect all people’s heritage and cultural ties or you don’t respect anyone. We are all human.

I refer you to post #43. YMMV.

 

[Phoenix-1]

Ultimately, it's a tiny thing. Not worth getting upset over.

 

[oz_mark]

I wonder if any first nations folks on this forum would care to comment on their thoughts on the acknowledgement of country on landing?

I personally like it. It's educational and gives a sense of uniqueness to Australia and the long history of people living here.

As for the previous version that QF pays respect to elders, past, present and emerging I don't have a strong opinion on that. If it's meaningful to first nations people then that's good enough for me and I'm all for it. If they think it's a load of tokenistic bollocks then be done with it. One thing that's clear is the announcement in no ways impact me negatively. It's not like QF is holding my captive and delaying me for an extra 10 seconds to listen to the announcement.

I think the current one is fine. I know some First Nations people had issues with the bit about 'emerging leaders'.

 

[Mr H]

So we only acknowledge ancestors and people who have deep cultural and spiritual ties to the land if, and only if, they never faced contest from outside races?

Completely hypocritical if you ask me. You either respect all people’s heritage and cultural ties or you don’t respect anyone. We are all human.

Nobody has ever questioned the respect due to Britons. The issue we have in Australia, as people know full well, is an Indigenous population who had their land taken by force, their children taken by force, and many of whom live in third world conditions with low life expectancy. Successive generations of colonist settlers and their descendants have not given them much respect. That is why it it’s important to take opportunities to show respect and acknowledge them. I feel sad that Qantas has bowed to pressure from a nasty and spiteful minority of our people who have no interest in closing the gap.

 

[Happy Dude]

I feel sad that Qantas has bowed to pressure from a nasty and spiteful minority of our people who have no interest in closing the gap.

How are you so sure that QF made changes to the announcement in response to pressure from "them"? QF didn't flinch in the face of extreme criticism from "those people" during the Voice referendum, so why would they now? My guess is that the changes had nothing to do with "them" - so y'all don't need to be sad

 

[JessicaTam]

[Moderator hat]

​

This for many is an extremely sensitive issue.​

​

As it does relate to travel, we would appreciate if members could restrict their posts to referencing the acknowledgment as now expressed.​

​

Comments outside that narrow band will be deleted without warning and member(s) making such may be subject to further sanction.​

​

[/Moderator hat]

[mod hat]
It seems some wish to ignore a very clear directive.

Posts have been deleted, and infractions have been issued.
[/mod hat]

 

[randompunter]

Landing in CNS today we got, "welcome to Cairns, Qantas acknowledges the traditional custodians".

 

[MooTime]

Landing in CNS today we got, "welcome to Cairns, Qantas acknowledges the traditional custodians".

Who are the traditional custodians?

Are we now thanking unknowns?

How is this improving anything again?

 

[LondonAussie]

For people who think the announcement is just tokenism, maybe it is. But what's the harm? Every QF flight just after take-off there is an even more tokenistic announcement that goes along the lines of this "If there is anything we can do to make your flight more enjoyable/comfortable, please don't hesitate to ask." Well when I'm in economy I could ask for a lot of things that fit that bill, but they won't do it. Tokenism there at it's best!

As someone who visits Australia once or twice a year, the acknowledgment of country often catches me by surprise, but I find it interesting, educational and respectful. I'm more surprised by the reaction from the local Aussie residents I travel with, they roll their eyes at it and apologise to me about how every time I return to Australia it's "gone more woke" or similar words which don't make much sense to me.

The Qantas PA that actually upset me was about requiring everyone to show respect the crew. The way it's said came across quite condescending, almost like they're suggesting my default would be to abuse them unless they pre-emptively told me not to? Then I realised that there must have been incidents to need this added to the PA, so that made me sad.

Outside of Qantas, I think the most surprising announcement was flying KLM where their PA includes a line that filming any videos or taking any photos inside the aircraft is not allowed without first seeking permission of the cabin crew.

 

[Brucetiki]

They still did it on my ADL-SYD, NRT-MEL and MEL-ADL flights in the past couple of weeks.

 

[ozflier]

They still did it on my ADL-SYD, NRT-MEL and MEL-ADL flights in the past couple of weeks.

I'm flying early to ADL and later to MEL tomorrow - just dreading the WTC!

 

[JessicaTam]

I'm flying early to ADL and later to MEL tomorrow - just dreading the WTC!

Just for clarity, QF have never done a welcome to country. That can only be done by an elder. QF have only ever done an acknowledgment of country.

 

[serfty]

I'm flying early to ADL and later to MEL tomorrow - just dreading the WTC!

I presume you mean "Acknowledgement of Country"; see post 36:

Post in thread 'Qantas Changes Acknowledgement of Country arrival Announcement'

Tuesday at 2:00 PM

The removal of the more expansive welcome should remove most of the angst around this practice, especially as that welcome was not delivered by an Aboriginal person in most cases and to many seemed less authentic as a consequence.

To be clear - Qantas (or Virgin or Skybus) have never done a "welcome to country" (at least in this context).

What the topic of this thread relates to is a change to Qantas' "acknowledgement of country".

• serfty

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[servicerequired]

Who are the traditional custodians?

Are we now thanking unknowns?

How is this improving anything again?

Hopefully this is the end of it being gone entirely - again, it is a flight - save cultural welcomes for the Opening of Parliament, football Grand Finals, and other culturally significant events.

This repetition doesn't do anything to amplify the message, it just dilutes the significance of the message.