BY MATTHEW SHEAHAN for ADVANCE
It started with a simple question:
Why am I being welcomed to my own country?
Then came the petition, calling for an end to taxpayer-funded Welcome to Country ceremonies.
The response was overwhelming.
The petition was just the first step.
A few weeks ago, loyal Australians stepped up.
They backed a bold campaign to take on Welcome to Country directly.
Thousands of supporters dug deep to fund an ad to fight back.
To expose how a once-rare gesture has been hijacked by activists and twisted into a tool of guilt, shame, and division.
The ad is ready. The message is powerful.
But without you, it won’t be seen.
To go live next week.
To flood social media with the truth.
To reach the Australians who feel silenced and alone.
To turn the tide against activist division.
To make this possible, make this campaign yours and donate today.
The goal is simple: get this ad in front of as many people as possible.
To flood the feeds of Australians who are tired of being made to feel like outsiders in their own country.
Your donation today can help make that happen.
These Welcome to Country ceremonies are no longer respectful gestures.
They’re political performances, designed to guilt, shame, and divide.
They tell ordinary Aussies they should feel unwelcome. That they don’t belong. That being proud of your country is something to be ashamed of.
Your new ad says: Enough.
You can give mainstream Australians a voice.
And you can give people the courage to speak up, knowing they’re not alone.
But the only way this campaign will reach them is if you fund the advertising push to spread it.
Here’s what your donation will do:
- $35 gets the ad in front of 1000 people
- $75 puts it on the screens of 2500 Australians
- $150 fuels a wider blitz, 5000+ views
This is a message that needs to be seen across the country.
And you can make it happen.
Mainstream Australians brought this campaign to life.
Now you can be the one to launch it.
Don’t let this message stay silent. Donate now, so Australians can feel proud to call their country home again.
Yours sincerely,
Matthew Sheahan
Executive Director, ADVANCE
P.S Every dollar you give today will help flood social media with a message that says what so many Australians are thinking, it’s time to stop being made to feel like strangers in our own country. Chip in now, and make your voice impossible to ignore.
VicNews does not support the right-wing ‘think tank’ Advance.
We have chosen to republish their email today, as sent, and including the video embedded in the email, in the public interest, so the public can see for themselves what Advance sends to its followers and members.
The only editing was the removal of links to this Advance campaign, but they remain in bold type. Otherwise, the article has not been edited in any way from the email sent by the Advance Executive Director, Michael Sheahan.
