Qantas quietly removes "acknowledgement to country" PA announcement on landing

[MEL_Traveller]

What's part of our culture?

You can't just throw things down our throats and say it's our culture all of a sudden. Total nonsense.

The aboriginal people need assistance in many ways, not a CSM welcoming us to our own home. It's just leftist wokeism as usual.

So we can’t say ‘welcome to sydney’ or - as we sometimes hear - ‘welcome to Sydney Australia’ anymore?

 

[MooTime]

Clearly I didn't mean that.

 

[Mr H]

The sooner this stuff is abolished the better. It must be terribly confusing for international tourists.

Not at all. Aboriginal culture is a big drawcard for overseas visitors and is the main thing that differentiates Australia from any other post-colonial English speaking country. This is why souvenir shops are full of boomerangs, didgeridoos and Aboriginal art.

I like Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Country - it makes me feel proud to be Australian. It makes me feel connected to the land and to the history.

Where else in the world is this sort of thing done? I don't recall hearing that much elsewhere...

Exactly. That’s why we should cherish it.

 

[Aeryn]

Acknowledgement of Country "Welcome To Sydney home of the Gadigal people" was made on my flight last night too. It was followed up with "for those visiting enjoy your stay, for those returning home welcome home".

I honestly dont see why recognising indigenous place names is such an issue for some.

 

[kamchatsky]

For most people it is not such a big deal. It is just an announcement by the pilot/FAs. All the passengers are just sitting there on the plane anyway. For foreigners it is great for them to hear it as the First Nation is part of the attractions for them to visit Australia.

On the other hand, spending time in standard lower-level corporate meeting for acknowledgment of the country is wasting valuable time. But that is Off topic ....

 

[moa999]

How are they going to manage it when there are several competing clans or peoples at the location?

Gadigal for example isn't all of Sydney, but it is where the airport is situated (and the name of a new CBD Metro station).

WSI would be referred to as Dharug lands I suspect, which is a similar language group clan, but other parts of Sydney such as the north would be Guringai/Kuringgai, which is from a different language grouping.

Its a little bit of education that takes no time.

 

[MooTime]

Gadigal for example isn't all of Sydney, but it is where the airport is situated (and the name of a new CBD Metro station).

WSI would be referred to as Dharug lands I suspect, which is a similar language group clan, but other parts of Sydney such as the north would be Guringai/Kuringgai, which is from a different language grouping.

Its a little bit of education that takes no time.

Aboriginal people's of the past roamed the land, moved to furtile lands, they were not restricted localised. now all of a sudden they have a detailed map, with line borders, boundaries!
Such nonsense and all some say, 'oh educate yourself' please.

Good on Qantas for removing most of the useless speech.

 

[dajop]

Acknowledgement of Country "Welcome To Sydney home of the Gadigal people" was made on my flight last night too. It was followed up with "for those visiting enjoy your stay, for those returning home welcome home".

I honestly dont see why recognising indigenous place names is such an issue for some.

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.

 

[Quickstatus]

This is why souvenir shops are full of boomerangs, didgeridoos and Aboriginal art

Mostly made in China (including most the "Australian" motif trinkets/gifts/knick knacks)

Aboriginal tribesu sed to war with other aboriginal tribes, the victors would take over the lands even though boundaries were never recorded. I wonder whether they would do a welcome to country of the previous tribes?

 

[Mr H]

I wonder whether they would do a welcome to country of the previous tribes?

Why not ask them?

 

[Quickstatus]

Why not ask them?

They dont

 

[Aeryn]

Gadigal for example isn't all of Sydney, but it is where the airport is situated (and the name of a new CBD Metro station).

Actually the whole of the City of Sydney is in Gadigal country, which also includes inner burbs that surround the city.

WSI would be referred to as Dharug lands I suspect, which is a similar language group clan, but other parts of Sydney such as the north would be Guringai/Kuringgai, which is from a different language grouping.

WSI is located in the outer western suburbs, it may be considered part of the Greater Sydney region but it isn't in city of Sydney, it falls in the city of Liverpool.

Its a little bit of education that takes no time.

I've done cultural sensitivity training, we have indigenous staff including a cultural liaison officer at my current job. It is correct to acknowledge arrivals at SYD as being in Gadigal country, as that is where SYD is.

 

[Kendall Roy]

"Welcome To Sydney home of the Gadigal people"

I'm generally opposed to the recent wave of tokenism, but I think this is a sensible middle ground!

 

[OATEK]

I am sure no one can take any major issue with the revised greeting as long as the two main themes are covered - the appropriate Aboriginal name, and that it is home to many non-Aboriginal Australian people, is part of the same welcome greeting.

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

There is a lot of conflict over which mob are traditional owners in many parts of Australia, and so dual names may be needed. My son-in-law and his daughter (my granddaughter) are Noongar, and part of the South West Land and Sea Council. Anyone following the court cases involving various groups in the Bunbury (WA) area will know that many aspects of "ownership" are challenged between aboriginal groups. So more than one name can be more diplomatic in some cases.

Edited.

 

[moa999]

Actually the whole of the City of Sydney is in Gadigal country, which also includes inner burbs that surround the city.

...
I've done cultural sensitivity training, we have indigenous staff including a cultural liaison officer at my current job. It is correct to welcome arrivals at SYD to Gadigal country, as that is where SYD is.

Did I say it wasn't? The airport sits within generally accepted Gadigal lands, but this is both much larger than the City of Sydney and smaller than what we refer to as Sydney today.

Greater Sydney is currently made up of 33 LGAs including a number of cities (or more if you took the Covid definition which included Wollongong to Newcastle). The SYD airport is actually surrounded by Bayside Council, though the airport itself is governed by Federal legislation, and currently leased to SACL until 2087.

 

[serfty]

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".

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Confirmed landing in Brisbane just now, the acknowledgement of country message was replaced with a simple welcome to Brisbane, ___ country. I couldn't understand the word for Brisbane sorry.

 

[1022]

My MEL-SYD-MEL flights a few days ago had the new modified version along the lines of "Welcome to [City - (English Name)] Qantas acknowledges the original custodians". In Sydney the CSM added "...the Gadigal people". Landing in MEL was just "traditional custodians" Basically just dropping the respect to Elders. This seems like a reasonable evolution to me.

I've also observed some CSMs over the past few months not doing any Acknowledgement of Country on landing, so I wonder if management are leaving it up to CSM discretion - or at least not mandating it for those who have some sort of philosophical objection to saying a few extra words. In fact I play a little game with myself to guess if they are the type who would or wouldn't. I reckon I've been spot on about 85% of the time.

 

[MooTime]

My MEL-SYD-MEL flights a few days ago had the new modified version along the lines of "Welcome to [City - (English Name)] Qantas acknowledges the original custodians". In Sydney the CSM added "...the Gadigal people". Landing in MEL was just "traditional custodians" Basically just dropping the respect to Elders. This seems like a reasonable evolution to me.

I've also observed some CSMs over the past few months not doing any Acknowledgement of Country on landing, so I wonder if management are leaving it up to CSM discretion - or at least not mandating it for those who have some sort of philosophical objection to saying a few extra words. In fact I play a little game with myself to guess if they are the type who would or wouldn't. I reckon I've been spot on about 85% of the time.

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

Spot on by definition is 100%.

 

[TheRealTMA]

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

Spot on by definition is 100%.

110% correct!