Eli Toby pleaded guilty this week to committing a nuisance in or on a war memorial. The 24 year old labourer from Penrith was fined $880 by Judge Greg Grogin at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court, with a conviction recorded. The charge related to booing during the Acknowledgement of Country at the Anzac Day dawn service at the Martin Place Cenotaph on 25 April.
The man delivering the Acknowledgement, Pastor Uncle Ray Minniecon, is an Australian Defence Force veteran. His grandfather served as a Light Horseman at the Battle of Beersheba in 1917. The booing ran for around 66 seconds, according to reporting by 7News, before the crowd at the Cenotaph applauded Uncle Ray.
The court got the call right. The Cenotaph at 4.30am on Anzac Day isn't a stage for political protest, it's a war memorial. The underlying debate it triggered, however, is far from settled.
The Wider Debate
The reason a group of people felt motivated enough to break the silence at a dawn service is the same reason ratepayers, council staff, sports fans and airline passengers have been talking about Welcome to Country for years. It's now performed before almost every public gathering in the country.
Council meetings, school assemblies, corporate Zoom calls, webinars, the opening of parliamentary sessions, sporting matches, music festivals, writers' festivals, awards nights, conferences, and the pre flight announcement on a Qantas flight from Singapore. The acknowledgement opens a 10 minute presentation, then opens the next 10 minute presentation, then opens the one after that. Australians know the rhythm by now.
Reducing the entire saturation question to that fringe misses what the polling, the Fair Work Commission and some Indigenous elders themselves are saying out loud.
What The Polling Shows
Polling commissioned by the Institute of Public Affairs and conducted by independent research firm Dynata in May 2025, with a sample of 1,005 Australians, found:
- 56% of Australians agreed Welcome to Country ceremonies have become divisive, with only 17% disagreeing
- 46% want Welcome to Country dropped from Anzac Day, with 34% wanting it continued
- 49% want it dropped from sporting matches, with 30% wanting it continued
- 48% of Australians aged 18 to 24 agreed the ceremonies have become divisive
In court, Toby claimed 65% of the population shared his view. The published numbers don't reach 65%, but they show close to half the country wants the practice rolled back from major events.
The Juru Elders Got There First
One of the strongest pushbacks didn't come from a Penrith labourer at a dawn service. It came from the elders of the Juru people in Queensland's Burdekin Shire, who voted on 5 December 2024 to end Welcome to Country ceremonies on their own ancestral land.
Juru Elder and chair of the meeting Randall Ross told 4BC Mornings the elders made the call because the ceremony had become "a business that supports certain individuals" and was being "abused." He said many of the people performing Welcomes in the Burdekin weren't from the area and were collecting fees for doing so. "It makes us feel embarrassed," he said.
Former Labor Party national president and Indigenous leader Warren Mundine backed the Juru elders publicly, saying "a nice, good idea has been overdone." His full quote was specific: "It's like everywhere you go, you have a welcome. On planes, before giving a speech, lectures, events, meetings, sports event, concert, dinner, presentations, breakfast, lunch, dinner, people are getting sick of it."
Those Defending The Practice
Other Indigenous leaders, veterans groups and government voices pushed back hard on calls to cut back the ceremonies, and rejected the framing that Welcome to Country has worn out its welcome.
Larrakia Elder Richard Fejo told SBS those responsible for the heckling at dawn services were "a minority that are distastefully, but deliberately trying to use this as a tactic to create division." He rejected the claim the ceremonies are overdone.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss publicly criticised the framing that Welcome to Country is a welcome to Australia, describing that as "a deliberate and intended misinformation to the public to turn people against Aboriginal people."
Joseph West, Chief Executive of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Veterans Association, said in a statement that "ANZAC Day is defined by discipline, respect, and remembrance. Booing during any part of a commemoration falls short of those standards." He noted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have served in every conflict.
Uncle Ray Minniecon himself told the ABC after the service that he wanted Australians to understand "this always was and always will be Aboriginal land," and described what happened as racism his community has lived with for over 230 years.
The Shaun Turner Case
If anyone wanted a stress test of where the saturation has reached, they got one in 2025. Shaun Turner, a full time street sweeper with Darebin City Council in Melbourne, was sacked after questioning the need for an Acknowledgement of Country before a routine toolbox meeting on 17 April 2024.
His comment, on his own evidence to the Fair Work Commission, was that "if we need to be thanking anyone, it's the people who have worn the uniform and fought for our country to keep us free." He also said the ceremony was meant for special occasions, not for opening every staff meeting.
The Fair Work Commission ruled Turner's dismissal was "harsh, unjust or unreasonable." He won. Turner got his job back.
Where The Politics Sits
The political response split across familiar lines, but One Nation was first off the mark.
Senator Pauline Hanson posted a statement on her verified X account on the day of the dawn services. She wrote: "At ANZAC Day services across the country, some booed the Welcome to Country. I don't support that. ANZAC Day should never be disrupted. It's a sacred day to honour the men and women who gave everything for our country."
She continued: "But I do understand why people are fed up. We said no to The Voice. Yet everywhere we turn, this divisive political agenda is still being pushed down our throats at every ceremony, every event, every time we come together as Australians. People have every right to be angry at the division being forced on them."
Hanson also took aim at the media response: "What I will not accept is the media and politicians attacking everyday Aussies who have had enough. They're lining up to smear anyone who expresses frustration as a "racist" or a "neo-Nazi." That is disgraceful." She added that protesters had also shouted "Free Palestine" at an Anzac Day service that day, a detail that drew far less media attention than the Welcome to Country booing.
One Nation's formal policy position, published on the party website, calls for scrapping mandatory Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country ceremonies at schools, flights, sporting events and Anzac Day. The party cites the same IPA polling showing 56% of Australians believe the ceremonies have become divisive. Hanson has said publicly that she turns her back during parliamentary Welcome to Country ceremonies and has encouraged her grandson to refuse participation at school.
A separate One Nation statement, titled "Respect Anzac Day," lands the position in one line: "Anzac Day should be about our veterans. No politics. No protests. Just respect."
The Coalition position was mixed. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor condemned the booing as "un-Australian" on ABC Insiders, but said Welcome to Country ceremonies are "overused" and as a result "devalued." Former Liberal leader Peter Dutton, during the 2025 federal election campaign, described the ceremonies as "overdone" and said they should be reserved for significant events. Sussan Ley, the current Liberal leader, has signalled continued support for Welcome to Country at major Coalition events.
Defence Minister Richard Marles and the Albanese Labor government condemned the booing and stood by the use of Welcome to Country ceremonies. Marles called the booing "disgraceful" and said acknowledgements to Country are "just an act of respect."
NSW Premier Chris Minns called the booing disappointing and said the spontaneous applause that broke out for Uncle Ray Minniecon afterwards showed the views of the vast majority at the service.
Back In Court
Inside the courtroom this week, Toby asked Judge Grogin to take into account his clean record. He read from prepared material and said he hadn't intended to offend Indigenous people. He described the Welcome to Country as "over politicised."
Asked three times if he was sorry for the booing, he couldn't say yes. "I'm sorry it has caused such an uproar, and I'm sorry to my family that it has caused such drama," he offered. Pressed for a yes or no, he stood in silence before saying "I don't have an answer" and "I have mixed feelings."
The judge gave him the 25% discount for the early plea but recorded the conviction. "Your actions, especially that you're unable to say you're sorry for what you did, show an ignorance, if I can put it that way, as to what Anzac Day really means."
The RSL Review
RSL Australia National President Peter Tinley AM has confirmed a review of Welcome to Country guidelines as part of the organisation's standard post Anzac Day process. RSL NSW acting president, retired Brigadier Vince Williams, apologised to Uncle Ray Minniecon directly and called the booing "the most appalling act I've ever seen at a dawn service."
The review now has to land on something, and the conversation isn't going back in the bottle. The polling on the table, the Juru elders' decision, the Fair Work Commission ruling and the words of leaders across the political spectrum will all be in the room when the RSL makes its call.
On 25 April at the Martin Place Cenotaph, 66 seconds of booing earned a nuisance conviction and an $880 fine. The wider debate is everyone else's to keep having.
SOURCES
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-04/eli-toby-fined-booing-anzac-day-dawn-service-martin-place/
https://au.news.yahoo.com/shocking-scenes-sydney-dawn-185146880.html
https://www.onenation.org.au/hanson-says-enough-welcome
https://www.onenation.org.au/respect-anzac-day
