Tony Armstrong (main photo) has called out the online trolls criticising him for doing a welcome to country at The Logies.
When Armstrong took the stage to present an award at the 62nd Logie Awards, he also delivered an Acknowledgment of Country, to acknowledge the original owners of the land.
Notably, Armstrong didn’t appear on the stage until about forty minutes into the Awards show, but he was the first presenter to do an Acknowledgment of Country. Armstrong’s Acknowledgment of Country was a really beautiful moment and a reminder that the traditional owners of the land should always be acknowledged and respect needs to always be paid.
However, depressingly, some online trolls criticised Armstrong’s actions.
One wrote on Twitter, “Acknowledgement of country is virtue signalling that does nothing to further the wellbeing of indigenous people in Australia. Specially to a room full of coke sniffing elites. It’s time we drop this nonsense.”
Armstrong shut the troll down, replied to the tweet, and wrote, “Shut up, bro. I’m a blackfulla and I am duty bound to respect the land I’m on.”
Shut up bro. I’m a blackfulla and I am duty bound to respect the land I’m on.
— Tony Armstrong (@Tonaaayy_) June 19, 2022
Thankfully, the overwhelming response to Armstrong’s acknowledgment and also his win at The Logies has been overwhelmingly positive. Who, doesn’t love Tony?
#Logies2022 .. Shame on you @Channel9 for failing an acknowledgement to country at the commencement of tonight’s Logies! Well done Tony Armstrong for being the voice of your people (& ours)
— Maggie Ormerod (@RobboMaggie) June 19, 2022
Lucky all the well paid white presenters didn’t do an acknowledgment of country, so that @Tonaaayy_ could bring the #Logies into modern Australia AN HOUR INTO THE BROADCAST.
— Kyle Minall (@kyleminall) June 19, 2022
Tony Armstrong is a winner already for being the first #Logies presenter to make an Acknowledgment of Country.
Let’s hope this winning streak continues! 🤞#Logies2022 @Tonaaayy_
— Michael Rowland (@mjrowland68) June 19, 2022
The fact it’s about 40 mins in and Tony Armstrong had to do Welcome to Country because nobody at @Channel9 thought it a necessary part of this event says a lot about why I never watch this🤯 #Logies2022
— Nicky Bryson (@NickyCBryson) June 19, 2022
However, it is also worth acknowledging that it is incredibly depressing that Armstrong has to deal with ignorant messages and tweets like this. Particularly, when acknowledging of country is about showing respect to the original owners of our land.
Frankly, Tony Armstrong deserves better.
