‘I just want the Australian public to know’: Why pointed Welcome to Country speech was given

A prominent family member of the first Indigenous Australian to become a member of any parliament of Australia says her controversial Welcome to Country speech before an AFLW final on Saturday was needed to highlight the divide in society.

Louisa Bonner, the grandniece of Neville Bonner, who served as a Liberal Party senator for Queensland from 1971 to 1983, drew a sharp reaction on social media and from radio host Tom Elliott for her political comments ahead of the preliminary final between Brisbane and Carlton in Ipswich.

A Jagera descendant from the Yuggera nation and member of the Ngaran Goori traditional owner group, Bonner spoke about Indigenous children in custody, colonisation and racism, before welcoming the two teams and encouraging good sportsmanship.

“I just wanted to share with the community and, hopefully, trigger people talking, and someone might come and ask me: ‘What’s going on there [in the Indigenous community]?’,” Bonner said on Monday.

“I just want the Australian public to know that everything is not what it seems or sounds to be like. We have all this government structure out there, and they think blackfellas are getting everything.

“Most white, mainstream communities think we get everything. As long as they are prepared to open their mouths, I don’t care. I will set them on the right path and tell them the truth about what’s really happening. I just want to see some action.”

Bonner said she expressed her feelings on national television because she had grown frustrated with letter writing and submissions to governments.

In her speech on Saturday evening, Bonner said: “Before proceeding with today’s formalities, I wish to briefly draw attention to a national crisis affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in youth detention.

“Our children remain disproportionately represented in the systems and are too often treated, not as young people deserving care, protection and opportunity but as numbers within the structures that serve political and economic interests rather than community wellbeing.

“The drivers of this crisis are well known – the ongoing impacts of colonisation, systemic racism, limited recognition of sovereignty, resistance to Indigenous-led leadership, continued land and economic dispossession. These issues are matters of social justice, human rights, and legal responsibility.

“If you wish to discuss it, catch up with me afterwards, here is my business card, but to all of the teams here today I express my best wishes. A good game upholds fairness, sportsmanship and respect, allowing athletes to demonstrate their skills and true character.”

3AW host Elliott was among those critical of Bonner’s speech and of the AFL for letting her deliver it. He estimated her speech went for two and half minutes.

“It was about 90 per cent politics and 10 per cent actually welcoming the supporters and the players to the ground,” he said.

“How could they (the AFL) possibly think that was appropriate before a football game. It was a lecture. It was completely inappropriate and somebody should stand up about it.”

Bonner has been giving Welcome to Country speeches since 2014.

She said many in the crowd had clapped, although she did receive a “very nasty email” by the time she returned home, which she will forward to the police.

The AFL and Lions have not expressed any grievances to her. The league and Lions were approached for comment.

AFL Fans Association president Ronnie Issko would not comment directly on Bonner’s speech.

He said the association had polled fans this season, asking when Welcome to Australia speeches should be given.

“It is a varied view from fans, but I don’t have a definitive view from fans that they are against it, but other than probably if we have it for a time period – one, one-and-a-half minutes – and probably stick to Welcome to Country, and maybe not have political statements attached to it,” Issko said.

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