A veteran and a Channel 9 reporter had a heated debate after a known neo-Nazi booed during a Welcome to Country at an Anzac Day dawn service.
Thousands of people turned out under the cloak of pre-dawn darkness in Melbourne on Friday to commemorate those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
But the air of reverence for the Anzacs was broken during Bunurong elder Mark Brown’s Welcome to Country, when loud heckles and boos threatened to drown him out.
The ugly scenes sparked condemnation from across the political spectrum with Defence Minister Richard Marles describing those responsible as ‘idiots’ and Peter Dutton branding them ‘mentally unwell’.
But an apparent veteran has defended the disruptors in a heated exchange with Channel Nine reporter Mark Santomartino in the aftermath of the service.
‘The reason why we’re here, is because our friends fought and died for this country, blood sweat and tears – like their ancestors did,’ the veteran told the reporter.
He questioned whether it was ‘the right time and place’ for a Welcome to Country.
‘I have a lot of veteran mates that haven’t come today solely because of the Welcome to Country.
An apparent veteran (pictured, right) has defended the disruptors in a heated exchange with a Channel Nine reporter in the aftermath of the service
The air of reverence for the Anzacs was broken during Bunurong elder Mark Brown’s (pictured) Welcome to Country, when loud heckles and boos threatened to drown him out
‘Because our friends died for this country, for this soil – and for them to be welcomed is a slap in the face.’
The reporter said he wasn’t suggesting there ‘aren’t people that feel that way’.
‘What I’m saying to you is: to get up there and boo during a sacred ceremony is going to be seen by a lot of people as disrespectful’, he added.
The veteran hit back, stating: ‘That’s where we as Australians and you as the media need to tell the right story’.
‘Yes, it was disrespectful, but these are the reasons people are not agreeing with it because it’s not the right time or place for it.’
The veteran argued that neither the Welcome to Country or the booing was the ‘right time for it’.
‘I agree with the whole service but the Welcome to Country and the booing…It’s not right to welcome veterans, World War Two… this is about all the people who have died for this country.
‘For them to welcome us to this country is disrespectful’.
Neo Nazi Jacob Hersant was allegedly one of the men who took part in the booing
Thousands of people turned out under the cloak of pre-dawn darkness in Melbourne on Friday to commemorate those who paid the ultimate sacrifice
Jacob Hersant, a prominent neo-Nazi figure, was allegedly among those loudly booing.
Their voices were picked up by microphones and loudspeakers, making the disturbance clearly audible to the rest of the crowd.
‘It’s our country!’ one yelled as elder Mark Brown began his address.
‘We don’t have to be welcomed,’ screamed another.
The boos and shouts lasted the entire three minutes of the Welcome to Country, as Mr Brown carried on with his address in his sonorous voice.
After the Welcome to Country, Victorian Governor Margaret Gardner delivered the official Anzac Day address, which acknowledged Aboriginal Australians.
This prompted yet more boos.
‘How many more? This is s***,’ one man reportedly shouted.
A woman then shouted ‘always was, always will be’ – before the crowd erupted with applause and helped drown out the disquiet.
Hersant told the media after the service: ‘This is a day for the Anzacs, it’s not for Aboriginals.’
Attendees film some of those allegedly booing during the Anzac Day Dawn Service in Melbourne, including Jacob Hersant (circled)
A small crowd that had gathered to witness his exchange with the Channel Nine reporter while the service was still running started to boo and jeer Hersant (pictured)
Herasant, the first person to be charged and convicted for publicly making a Nazi salute in Victoria, was later filmed having a heated exchange with the same reporter.
‘Why can they politicise it and make it about white guilt…over and over again. This is about the Anzacs,’ Hersant told the reporter.
Santomartino, the Channel Nine reporter, kept grilling him, asking why he felt he had the right to boo when it was about ‘all Australians’.
A small crowd that had gathered to witness the exchange while the service was still running started to boo and jeer Hersant.
He was spoken to by police and escorted from the service.
It is understood he did not perform a Nazi salute, despite some reports.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said those responsible should ‘face the full force of the law’.
‘There is no place in Australia for what occurred in Melbourne this morning,’ he said in a statement.
‘A neo-Nazi disrupting Anzac Day is abhorrent, un-Australian, and disgraceful. The people responsible must face the full force of the law.’
Defence Minister Richard Marles described the booing as ‘outrageous and appalling’, and branded those responsible as ‘just idiots’.
‘It should be condemned in the strongest possible terms,’ Mr Marles told Sky News.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called for the police to ‘come down heavily’ on the disruptors.
‘Our diggers fought against the Nazis. That this movement, the neo-Nazis, has any presence in our country at all is just an outrage and a disgrace,’ he told Channel Nine.
‘You look at the Nazi ideology, the deaths that it led to, the destruction – not just in Europe but across the world … that it could be glorified by Australians here shows that these people are mentally unwell.’