Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton will be asked to weigh in on the appropriateness of Welcome to Country ceremonies in the final leaders’ debate on Sunday night.
The pair will go head to head at 8pm (AEST) on Seven in an ‘intimate’ debate hosted by Sunrise host Natalie Barr and moderated by political editor Mark Riley.
Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton will be asked six questions, including a ‘rapid fire’ session consisting of yes or no responses.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal both leaders will have to answer a question regarding the place of Welcome to Country ceremonies in Australia.
It comes after a group of protesters booed the Welcome to Country ceremony during the Anzac Day dawn service in Melbourne on Friday.
Victorians gathered under pre-dawn darkness to commemorate those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, before Bunurong elder Mark Brown began the Welcome to Country.
But boos and heckles emanating from the front of the crowd began shortly after Mr Brown commenced his speech.
‘It’s our country!’ one heckler yelled.
Anthony Albanese will be forced to confront recent anti-Welcome to Country sentiment in the final leaders debate
‘We don’t have to be welcomed!’ another screamed.
Jacob Hersant, a prominent neo-Nazi figure, was allegedly among those loudly booing.
‘This is a day for the Anzacs, it’s not for Aboriginals,’ he told media after the service.
The public was divided opinion following the incident.
A veteran defended the disruptors in a heated exchange with Channel Nine reporter Mark Santomartino in the aftermath of the service.
‘The reason why we’re here, is because our friends fought and died for this country, blood sweat and tears – like their ancestors did,’ the veteran told the reporter.
He questioned whether it was ‘the right time and place’ for a Welcome to Country.
‘I have a lot of veteran mates that haven’t come today solely because of the Welcome to Country.
Mr Dutton and Mr Albanese are poised to enter their final head to head battle on Sunday night
‘Because our friends died for this country, for this soil – and for them to be welcomed is a slap in the face.’
The reporter said he wasn’t suggesting there ‘aren’t people that feel that way’.
‘What I’m saying to you is: to get up there and boo during a sacred ceremony is going to be seen by a lot of people as disrespectful,’ he added.
Defence Minister Richard Marles described the booing as ‘outrageous and appalling’, and branded those responsible as ‘just idiots’.
‘It should be condemned in the strongest possible terms,’ Mr Marles told Sky News.
‘It was a small number of people.
‘The vast majority of people who were here this morning were wanting to commemorate and acknowledge Anzac day in the ways we should expect.’
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called for the police to ‘come down heavily’ on the disruptors.
Protesters’ boos echoed through loudspeakers during Uncle Mark Brown’s Welcome to Country at the Anzac Day service
‘Our diggers fought against the Nazis. That this movement, the neo-Nazis, has any presence in our country at all is just an outrage and a disgrace,’ he told Channel Nine.
Just hours later the Melbourne Storm made an eleventh hour decision to axe their pre-game Welcome to Country on Friday.
Though the club said it was unrelated to the events earlier in the morning.
But many members of the public felt the ceremonies do not belong at the beginning of other memorials or celebrations, including Anzac day, as debate raged.
A Welcome to Country is a traditional ceremony performed by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander elders to formally welcome visitors to their land and to give their blessing for events taking place on their traditional lands.
While the small ceremonies are intended to be friendly and inclusive, they have become increasingly the focus of national debate.
Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton will have to discuss a range of topics affecting voters on Sunday night.
The debate will air for one hour, starting at 8:10 pm, and each leader will have one uninterrupted minute for both an opening and closing address, with a 30-second countdown timer.
Both leaders will respond to six questions, including a rapid-fire round with yes/no or brief responses, as well as viewer questions gathered from broadcast and online audiences.
Each leader will have one minute to answer each of the first six questions, with the order of responses rotating.
A four-minute debate follows, allowing the leaders to ask each other questions.
No winner will be declared during the debate itself, but the post-debate show, The Verdict, will determine the winner based on the reactions of a studio audience of 60 undecided voters, independently selected by Roy Morgan.
