Melbourne Storm has reignited the Welcome to Country debate

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Deep Dive: NRL club Melbourne Storm are scaling back Welcome to Country ceremonies and focusing on “action” rather than “words” to improve the lives of First Nations people. 

Is it the right call for the club to make? Why do we bother to acknowledge country at all – and does doing it distract us from real action institutions can take to fix inequalities between First Nations and non-Indigenous people in this country?  

Ian Hamm is a Yorta Yorta man and Chair of the First Nations Foundation. He joins Bension Siebert on this episode of The Briefing to unpack if he thinks Melbourne Storm has made the right call, and what impact this might have on other sporting codes and businesses and their relationship to First Nations Australians going forward.  

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