Aunty Joy Murphy

Event organisers say security arrangements meant it could not accommodate last minute requests from Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy at a speaking event ...

Aunty Joy Murphy will deliver the Welcome to Country at the business lunch at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and the ABC understands she will also present Mr Obama with a gift. In a statement Growth Faculty said it had apologised to Aunty Joy and invited her to perform a Welcome to Country at a business lunch with Mr Obama today. - The organisers have apologised and invited Aunty Joy to perform a Welcome to Country at a business lunch with Mr Obama

A First Nations elder says she has been removed from performing the Welcome to Country ceremony at an event...

"The Welcome to Country is a very important ceremony for our people. She was just destroyed," he said. I have accepted their apology and will receive President Obama on behalf of my people," Murphy said. I asked to be treated as an equal. "I am 78 years of age. "She says that she has never been spoken to the way the organisers have spoken to her today. "I have been shocked and distressed by the way I have been treated by event organisers. "I do not want this to be a reflection on President Obama. I have never been treated or spoken to in this way in the past," Murphy said in a statement. "Growth Faculty holds deep respect for Australia's Traditional Owners and is proud to be hosting events this week on the lands of the Wurundjeri people. "The organisers rang and apologised and re-invited me to perform a Welcome today. "Due to security requirements, the organisation was unable to accommodate last minute changes to the agreed upon ceremony."