An acknowledgement of country will not be introduced at Gold Coast City Council meetings this term, with a leading traditional owner saying "our identity feels rejected".
Typically a brief statement during a function or public meeting, an acknowledgement of country recognises the traditional custodians of the land where the event is taking place.
The City of Gold Coast is the largest council in Queensland that does not conduct an acknowledgement of country at its ordinary meetings, which instead begin with a prayer and the national anthem.
Other larger councils, including Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Cairns and Townsville conduct acknowledgements of country.
According to the council's minutes, about 60 per cent of Queensland's local councils deliver an acknowledgement of country at the beginning of their ordinary meetings.
Mayor Tom Tate said he would take the matter on board but there would be no changes until the current term ends in March 2024.
"Everything is going great here. [During] citizenship [ceremonies] we do acknowledgement," he said.
"Council business is council business.
"We do our national anthem and I think it's good enough."
Speaking again on Thursday, Cr Tate said holding an acknowledgement before council meetings was "not efficient".
"You've got all the staff there, everyone is per hourly rate, I don't waste a minute on other things," he said.
"We do our prayer, we do our national anthem and we get on with our business."
Traditional identity 'feels rejected'
Kombumerri traditional owner and project manager of the Guanaba Indigenous Protected Area, Justine Dillon, said an acknowledgement of country was "a form of respect".
She said the council's choice to exclude the statement was "disappointing".
"It's not even 60 seconds at the beginning of the meeting," Ms Dillon said.
"It's just a way to respect that you're on traditional Aboriginal country that has connections and spiritual Dreaming.
"We're just trying to make it the norm in each industry so people make it a part of everyday living."
According to the council's website, an acknowledgement of country for the Yugambeh language region, which stretches inland to the Scenic Rim and north to Logan, should precede "any acknowledgement of VIPs and special guests at civic occasions, functions and public events".
Other council-funded institutions, including the Home of the Arts (HOTA) and Destination Gold Coast, specifically acknowledge "the Kombumerri families of the Yugambeh language region".
Ms Dillon said there was disagreement among some First Nations families on issues like the language region, but that she had requested that the council's website be updated to be "more inclusive so our local identities are captured".
"We still don't feel acknowledged and our identity feels rejected by our own council at times," she said.
"Despite that, I still work with a lot of lovely people in council in different departments that are supportive."
'More work to be done'
Councillor Glenn Tozer said as the chair of full council meetings, the mayor determined the agenda, including whether an acknowledgement was held.
He said councillors who chaired smaller committee meetings could make their own choice.
"On the rare occasion that I chair a [committee] meeting and I'm responsible for the meeting agenda, I start my meeting with an acknowledgement," he said.
"Each chair can make a choice — I would be supportive of the council taking a different approach.
"It is actually something that elected officials are becoming more familiar with.
"There's no doubt that governments across Australia are changing their practices to acknowledge country appropriately."
Cr Tozer said the Gold Coast's local government area included country belonging to multiple First Nations.
"There's more work that needs to be done to understand those custodianship boundaries and cultivating good relationships with First Nations people from each of those areas," he said.
Rebuilding Indigenous culture
Ms Dillon said the national anthem did not acknowledge or include Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander identities.
"It is a very non-Indigenous concept that was introduced into our country as a patriotic sign of our nation," she said.
"That doesn't acknowledge or include the Aboriginal nation."
Ms Dillon said that some people within the Gold Coast Indigenous community felt that they had "lost a lot of things culturally" and that their history had not been appreciated.
"All around Australia, they're looking at places like the Gold Coast and we're ashamed of where we are culturally compared to other Indigenous groups," she said.
"We [are] just opening back up things about our orche Dreaming and our fire lore and bringing back weaving styles.
"It's building back what we've lost over generations. We've got a lot of work to do."
Cr Tate said he had not been approached by traditional owners but that he understood the council was planning to appoint an Indigenous liaison officer.
