Brisbane ratepayers slugged with insane $135,000 Welcome to Country bill - and there's nothing they can do about it Welcome to Country ceremonies costing hundreds of thousands Ratepayers foot the bill, though many of them oppose the events READ MORE: Inside the extraordinary rise of 'Welcome to Country' and the truth about its origins By PADRAIG COLLINS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA Published: 22:55, 9 November 2024 | Updated: 22:59, 9 November 2024 e-mail View comments A council has spent more than $100,000 of ratepayer money on Welcome to Country ceremonies in the last two years. Brisbane City Council has shelled out $135,000 while other councils within Queensland have forked out tens of thousands of dollars. The ratepayers have no say in the matter, though, as it's the councils they pay their fees to that have decided to spend big on the ceremonies.
The renewed attention on Welcome to Country ceremonies followed the recent AFL finals, in particular the Giants versus Lions semi-final in Sydney where Aboriginal Elder Brendan Kerin said they 'weren't to cater for white people' . 'It's a ceremony we've been doing for 250,000 years BC - and the BC stands for Before Cook,' he told the crowd, referring to Captain James Cook's arrival in Australia in 1770. But the ceremony's modern form was invented less than 50 years ago by TV personality Ernie Dingo's dance troupe.
The Great Outdoors presenter and his fellow dancers came up with the impromptu routine in 1976 after an awkward stand-of.
