How to start a culture war in five easy steps

Ideally, you want something that’ll split people into two camps — an us and a them.

For the last few weeks (and, well, most of the year) there’s been a clear attempt at this around the prevalence of Welcome to Country in Australian society.  

The Welcome to Country ceremony is held at the start of an event and can be delivered as a speech, dance or smoking ceremony. 

Traditional Custodians of the land perform the welcoming ritual, the goal being to offer those being welcomed the safe passage and protection of their spiritual being during their journey on the land. It is a respectful protocol that dates back to before colonisation.

It’s visible, it’s cultural, and it pops up at everything from work functions to ANZAC day and the footy.

In the last federal election, Peter Dutton (as well as your usual conservative crowd) attempted to create a conversation around Welcome to Country. Dutton called it “overdone”, and  this claim was also made by Jacinta Nampijinpa Price – while others have also said things like “it’s gone too far”. 

In the last week, the issue has bubbled up again. 

The Institute of Public Affairs is a conservative think tank with roots back to WWII — and thick ties to the Liberal Party. They’re the ones who commissioned a recent poll that has been quoted by the media when discussing Australian attitudes to the Welcome to Country.

Former Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott is a Distinguished Fellow.

Current Shadow Minister for small business Tim Wilson was previously a policy director.  

And former Liberal PM John Howard once said the IPA “contributes very strongly to the intellectual debate on issues and that in turn has an impact on what attitude the Liberal Party takes.”

Now, you might say: “But, the data was collected by independent research firm Dynata.”

But that doesn’t mean they wrote the questions.

The IPA poll asked three questions. 

The first one was: Do you feel that Aboriginal Welcome to Country ceremonies have become divisive?

56% said yes. 

But let’s unpack that.

By phrasing it this way, you’re not asking people if they support the ceremony. You’re asking if they think it causes disagreement.

And if you’ve been even slightly conscious during the last election campaign — or just glanced at a headline — you’ve probably been told it’s divisive and an issue of concern by the media.

So no wonder people might agree.

The kicker? You could argue it’s divisive because certain media and politicians won’t shut up about it.

Next question: Aboriginal Welcome to Country ceremonies should no longer be performed before sporting matches.

There was a big result here: 49% agree.

But hang on…

30% disagreed and 21% were unsure.

So, actually not the raging hatred that some might have hoped for.

The final question was: Should Welcome to Country be performed at ANZAC Day services?

That one’s very topical — especially after this year’s ANZAC Day. When a Welcome to Country was booed at a service. 

46% said yes to scrapping it.

54% were either in support or unsure. 

Polling analyst Kevin Bonham was blunt: just ignore it.

He also called out Dynata and said the questions were negatively framed.

And… yeah. Instead of asking if you like or support the ceremony, we start with “is it divisive.”

It’s certainly doesn’t feel like a perfect methodology. 

Once you’ve got your poll, all you need is the media.

Journalists and editors are often fanging for content — especially stuff that lands prepackaged as a press release.

Plus, this polling ticks a few boxes: emotional topic, guaranteed engagement, and a topic people will without a doubt argue about in the Facebook comments.

The poll ran big in the Daily Telegraph.

Oh and in print? They ran those stats again — but left out the “unsure” bloc. The same story ran in the Courier Mail and the Herald Sun.

To be fair, Courier did follow up with this explainer two days later:

5 Welcome to Country myths busted

No journalist byline on that one though.

Meanwhile, Sky News had an absolute field day:

Once it’s out there, these stories get picked up by the usual suspects — conservative Facebook groups, right-wing lobby orgs, screenshots of headlines shared to amplify the idea that, suddenly:

“AUSSIES ARE FED UP WITH WELCOME TO COUNTRY”

And, to really build support, there’s often a link to a petition.

This one’s now sitting at over 100,000 signatures.

But — even if we believe this poll — most Aussies are either supportive or unsure about the ceremony. It’s hardly the uprising being sold.

Starting a culture war is pretty easy. All you need is:

What’s next? 

Well, Peter Dutton was tossing up a few options before he got the boot — like branding the ABC and Guardian as “hate media”. Sound familiar?

But if we really want to know where it’s going next…

Just pay attention to the polls.