Anthony Albanese delivers an Acknowledgement of Country before one of his final speeches before the election

Anthony Albanese has begun one of his final election pitches by delivering an Acknowledgement of Country before his National Press Club of Australia address.

‘I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we’re meeting and I pay my respect to elders past, present and emerging,’ Mr Albanese said on Wednesday. 

His acknowledgement to traditional owners of the land comes as a debate erupts over the practice, days after Bunurong-Gunditjmara man Uncle Mark Brown was booed and jeered on Anzac Day while performing a Welcome To Country.

 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

Meanwhile an An Acknowledgement of Country is a statement of respect for the Traditional Owners and custodians of the land where an event or meeting is taking place. 

While the small ceremonies are intended to be friendly and inclusive, it has proved divisive, with some claiming it is a token gesture and a symbol of woke culture.

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price previously said Australia was ‘saturated’ with it, which was ‘removing the sacredness of certain traditional culture and practices’.

‘It’s just become almost like a throwaway line. We don’t want to see all these symbolic gestures. We want to see real action,’ she said.