Protestors heard booing during the Welcome to Country at Melbourne’s ANZAC Day Dawn Service have been widely condemned by political figures from all sides.
As thousands gathered to honour the fallen soldiers of Gallipoli at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance early Friday morning, a group of disgruntled protesters created a disturbance during the Welcome To Country message led by Burnurong and Gunditjmara elder Uncle Mark Brown. Victorian governor Margaret Gardner was also booed after acknowledging the traditional owners of the land the community had gathered on.
The group of about six to 10 men were heard booing and yelling phrases such as, “It’s our country, we don’t need to be welcomed to our country” before being drowned out by applause from the rest of the crowd.
Speaking to the ABC following the service, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said that the display was “beyond disappointing”.
“To pierce the sombre silence and to pierce the solemnity of the dawn service isn’t just disrespectful, it dishonours the very thing that the men and women who fought and lost their lives is about,” Ms Allan said.
“It’s beyond disappointing and again, runs counter to why we gather at the Shrine at dawn.”
According to the ABC, 9News and Veteran’s affairs minster, Matt Keogh, the “disgraceful” booing heard during the service was lead by neo-Nazi, Jacob Hersant who the first Victorian convicted of intentionally performing an illegal Nazi salute in November 2024.
“What we saw occur there is frankly disgraceful. We know now that that booing was led by someone who’s a known neo-Nazi. And frankly, when we come together to commemorate on Anzac Day, we’re commemorating some of those soldiers who fell in a war that was fought against that sort of hateful ideology,” Keogh said, per The Guardian.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton weighed in on the display during an appearance on the TODAY show.
“Our diggers fought against the Nazis and [that] this movement of neo-Nazis has any presence in our country at all is just an outrage and a disgrace. And we’ve toughened the laws at a federal level to stop the display of Nazi symbols. That it could be glorified by Australians here… it should be condemned,” he said.
The same sentiment was echoed by Greens leader Adam Bandt in a statement to The Guardian.
“This behaviour is disgraceful and I’m glad to see politicians of all stripes calling it out. There’s no room for hate, division or racism on this day or any day,” he said.
“I send my love and support to Uncle Mark Brown and First Nations people around the country. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land.”
In a statement to the ABC, Victoria Police confirmed that an investigation into the heckling involving a 26-year-old Kensington man was underway.
“Police are aware of a small group of people disrupting the dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance this morning,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
“He has subsequently been interviewed for offensive behaviour and police will proceed via summons.”
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