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A respected RSL president says anger over Welcome to Country ceremonies at Anzac Day services is understandable, but warns most hecklers were simply there to cause trouble.

Those who are angry and frustrated about Welcome to Country ceremonies being performed at Anzac Day dawn services have a right to be, and most of those who booed were only there to be a nuisance.

President of Ringwood RSL, David Jamison AM, has called out the left-leaning politicians who want Welcome to Country ceremonies to continue at Anzac Day dawn services. Picture: Josh Spasaro.

They were thoughts of respected retired Colonel David Jamison AM, who is President of Ringwood RSL in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

At Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance, loud booing was heard as Bunurong Elder Uncle Mark Brown spoke during his Welcome to Country address.

At Sydney’s service, Pastor Ray Minniecon was also disrupted, leading to him asking those who caused the disruption to show some respect.

Minniecon told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

“This always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

“They have to show that respect to that, to us as traditional owners, sovereign owners to this country.

“What crime did we commit? What are we doing to incite that kind of rage and that kind of hatred? I can’t fathom that.”

‘We Are All Australians’

But Jamison – who commanded the Army’s Field Supply Battalion in the Operational Deployment in the Vietnam War – believes it is wrong for veterans to be welcomed to their own country.

“It’s become a political hot potato. And quite frankly, the people saying ‘this is Aboriginal land – always has been, always will be’ – they’re adding fuel to the fire,” he told The Daily Declaration.

“We are all Australians, and we all have equal claim to the land – all of it.

“That’s my point of view, anyway.”

Meanwhile, conservative influencer Drew Pavlou wrote on his social media pages that Brown appeared to show no sympathy in the aftermath of Christian activist Charlie Kirk’s death last September, murdered while speaking during a Turning Point USA debate event at Utah Valley University.

Pavlou uploaded a screenshot of Brown’s alleged post on LinkedIn, which says:

“Charlie Kirk deserved the fate he brought on himself. When you spend your life fueling division, spreading lies and tearing down communities, it is only a matter of time before that same poison turns back on you. His downfall isn’t tragedy – it’s justice catching up with him.

“The irony is that the hate he spread became the weight that dragged him down.”

Pavlou also posted that Brown “sells a range of AI-generated commercial ANZAC merchandise on his website, seemingly without the permission of authorities. You can be fined up to $10,000 for trying to sell ANZAC-themed merchandise without official permission.

“Credit to @ThreetothePower on X for a lot of this digging.”

James Macpherson suggests how to stop the booing at Welcome to Country ceremonies on Anzac Day:

Jamison added veterans being welcomed to their own country de-legitimises the fact that so many have paid the ultimate sacrifice in defending Australia’s Judeo-Christian values.

“To welcome those to the country from one ethnic background to the rest of the country is just wrong,” he said.

“Just generally in the army – we took people at face value, and they proved themselves one way or the other.

“That was the criteria – not where they came from or what background they had.

“Tell me a country that hasn’t been invaded at some stage of its existence? People just get absorbed and end up being equal citizens in the land they’re in.”

The ABC branded those who booed the Welcome to Country ceremonies on Anzac Day as racist.

But Jamison stressed that he never witnessed any forms of exclusion due to the colour of anyone’s skin during his 23 years in the ADF.

“There was no colour barrier or bar in service. We had people from all sorts of backgrounds. It was just normal,” he said.

During last year’s Anzac Day dawn service at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance, police were seen escorting away Jacob Hersant, a neo-Nazi and prominent figure in the now-disbanded National Socialist Network.

There have been reports that neo-Nazis were once again booing during Welcome to Country ceremonies at Anzac Day dawn services across the nation this year.

Jamison said these hecklers did not represent the views of many who simply wanted to honour their veterans in their efforts to keep Australia a free country.

“They’re (neo-Nazis) just a pain to everybody,” he said.

Premier Condemns ‘Disgraceful’ Disruption

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan issued a statement after the Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance, strongly condemning those who booed.

She also put forward her unconditional support for the Welcome to Country ceremony to remain a part of dawn-service commemorations in the future.

“The disruption of this morning’s Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance was not only disgraceful – it’s a betrayal of everything Anzac Day stands for,” she said.

“A moment meant for silence and reflection was deliberately broken.

“To shatter it with boos is not protest. And it is certainly not patriotism.

“It is pure disrespect.

“And to direct that at a Welcome to Country – at Aboriginal servicemen and women who served this nation – is as ignorant as it is shameful.

A big crowd enjoyed playing the traditional two-up game on Anzac Day 2026 at Ringwood RSL. Club President, David Jamison AM, believes there is no place for Welcome to Country ceremonies at Anzac Dawn services. Picture: Josh Spasaro.

“Anzac Day is not a stage for division. It is about service. Mateship. Sacrifice.

“And we will never let a hateful few take that away.”

Politicians Need to ‘Rediscover Their Moral Compass’

Jamison believes politicians who support veterans being welcomed to their own country which they fought for was more of an issue of concern than those who angrily oppose the Welcome to Country ceremony being performed.

He said these left-leaning lawmakers needed to rediscover their moral compass and understand why so many Australians do not want Welcome to Country to be performed at Anzac Day dawn services.

“I can understand (the anger). There’s a widespread feeling that the thing is out of balance,” he said.

“It was the wrong thing to do and certainly at the wrong time.

“There’s a lot of self-interest going on, particularly in the political arena. It’s unhelpful to the country and it’s unhelpful to people who have legitimate concerns about that aspect of our community.”

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Image courtesy of Adobe.