‘Welcome to Country’ debate explodes as Melbourne Storm issue statement

The Melbourne Storm have moved to clarify their action on ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremonies after a decision to review their use in 2025 caused a huge online stir and was twisted by original reports.

The frequent use of ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremonies at sporting events has become hotly debated, with conservative commentators calling them divisive and even some Indigenous leaders now saying they are tokenistic.

Following the reaction and media coverage of the Storm’s “cultural planning review”, the club was forced to make their approach to Welcome to Countries crystal clear via a statement.

“Melbourne Storm is not ‘ditching’ its Welcome to Country or Acknowledgments as suggested by recent media,” they said in the statement.

“We will continue these acknowledgments at culturally significant celebrations.

“The strength and success of our club is built on many cultures and communities, and our engagement with them has helped us to reflect the differing views on how we best support and represent each group.

“We will continue to talk to these communities and seek their input to find the most appropriate and respectful way to acknowledge and celebrate culture, including how we best acknowledge First Nations people.

“The club will continue to support First Nations community groups and organisations, as it has done for many years, delivering programs and initiatives that promote positive health, welfare and education outcomes.”

While some conservatives applauded the Storm on the review, Indigenous rapper Briggs was unhappy.

“See, the cost of living means cultural recognition is just not viable in this economy,” Briggs wrote on social media.

“There’s a price for cultural inclusion.

“Storm could do it if they wanted; if anyone knows how to work a salary cap - it’s them,” making reference to their salary cap scandal of 2010.

But the debate continues to rage on social media.

AFL great and former Indigenous Geelong star Matthew Stokes has admitted they have become divisive.

“Welcome to Country should be a beautiful, respectful ceremony that unites us as we reflect on Australia’s extraordinary history which stretches long before white settlement,” he wrote in The Age.

“Instead, it’s becoming divisive and, to be honest, I can understand why many people are confused by its purpose, as the AFL finals coverage broadcasts the ceremonies to millions of football fans.”

One particular ‘Welcome to Country’ during the AFL finals created a massive online furore when Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council’s Brendan Kerin explained that “a Welcome to Country is not a welcome to Australia”.

“A Welcome to Country is not a ceremony we’ve invented to cater for white people,” Kerin said.

“It’s a ceremony we’ve been doing for 250,000 years-plus BC. And the BC stands for Before Cook.”

However, this did not sit well with many conservatives who took aim at Kerin and the ritual in the aftermath.