A patriotic Aussie who booed a “welcome to country” at Sydney’s Anzac Day dawn service has refused to apologise while being fined and lectured by a woke magistrate.
Eli Toby, 24, appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday where he represented himself and pleaded guilty to committing a nuisance in or on a war memorial.
Toby was one of a large number of attendees who booed and heckled for more than one minute while far-left aboriginal activist Ray Minniecon performed the humiliation ritual.
The booing was part of a nationwide backlash against “welcome to countries” being included at Anzac Day services, with similar crowd reactions in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth on the same day.
Fed-up Aussies boo loudly during a “welcome to country” at the Anzac Day Dawn Service in Sydney.
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Appearing before Magistrate Greg Grogin, Toby told the court that his feelings were “shared by many people”, and that his actions were to “stand for what I believed was the right thing at the time”, ABC News reported.
Toby also said in a prepared statement that according to recent polling of 50,000 Australians, 65% of Australians oppose the “welcome to country”, which he said had become politicised.
When pressed repeatedly by the judge on whether he was sorry, Toby said: “I’m sorry it has caused such an uproar, and I’m sorry to my family.”
He added he had “mixed feelings” but refused to give a straight yes or no, and said “I don’t have an answer”.
Mr Grogin responded, “Are you sorry? Obviously not,” and went on to lecture Toby while fining him $880 and recording a conviction.
“You broke a tradition. You broke a deeply sensitive moment to express your thoughts, when nobody asked for them,” the magistrate said.
“Your actions, especially that you’re unable to say you’re sorry for what you did, show an ignorance, if I can put it that way, as to what Anzac Day really means.”
After the service ended Mr Minniecon used the anti-Australian slogan “always was and always will be aboriginal land” in comments to the media, and said those booing should “understand their place” and “show respect to us as traditional owners”.
Toby was heckled by far-left pro-Palestine protesters as he entered court, 7News reported, but did not react.
Header image: Left, Toby Eli attending court. Right, Ray Minniecon being booed (7News).
