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#lydia #thorpe #podcast #newman #country #lidia #welcome

Lidia Thorpe has attacked Sam Newman, calling out the football star for saying Australians should boo their Welcome to Country ceremony. Newman made controversial comments on his podcast 'You Can't Be Serious', saying Australians should either boo or slowly start applauding when the ceremony begins at an event. Senator Thorpe has since released the former AFL great and said Welcome to Country was about peace and bringing people together. 'Sam Newman, I don't even know why he's in the news. "It has nothing to do with any of the controversies of the time," he said on The Today Show on Thursday morning. 'Sam Newman is not a respectful man at the best of times. He needs to educate himself. The show's host, Karl Stefanovic, then asked Ms Thorpe to comment on suggestions that Welcome to Country ceremonies were 'too much'. 'I think it depends on the traditional owners themselves and the event. "It's important for people to understand the land they're in and the stories behind it," he said. 'I don't think there are too many, I think the stories told are important for this country to mature and come together.' Stellar Magazine's editor Sarrah Le Marquand also weighed in, saying Newman needs to "get over it." 'There are 525,600 minutes in a year, we can afford give up a few minutes to attend the Welcome Country ceremony and listen respectfully and honor people, which can actually mean something,' he said. Newman urged Australians to boo the traditional ceremony not just at this year's AFL grand final but wherever it is held in public. 'If we're serious about welcoming country, and the nonsense that has gone from a completely harmless introduction by Ernie Dingo a few years ago to suddenly being taken over in last 20 years and people clinging to it,' he said. Sam Newman has a major gripe with the AFL over the inclusion of a Welcome to Country ceremony before matches Newman tells Aussies to boo the traditional ceremony every time it happens, not just at the grand final 'How about this, next time you go to public event like a grand final football match or any public event in the auditorium and when they sing Welcome to Country start booing... start clapping slowly.' Newman doubled down when podcast co-host Don Scott challenged him. 'Because we don't want to put up with it. 'Of course this is rude, but who is imposing this nonsense on us? Who tells us that should be welcome in country live, where try to live with, try to live with all the people who come here, especially indigenous people?' Newman claimed there were many First Nations Australians who shared their views on the ceremony. 'There are a lot of people who say that, and I keep saying it's just an exercise in compensation and financial muscle. "That's what I'm saying, the next time you go to a football match, a final, and they bring up this nonsense, start booing and it will stop," he said. 'The AFL shoul