Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy says she will attend Melbourne Storm’s Indigenous round match on Thursday night, months after the last-minute cancellation of her Welcome to Country ceremony on Anzac Day.

But in a scathing statement, Murphy condemned the Storm’s association with board member and part-owner Brett Ralph, who is linked to conservative lobby group Advance Australia, a driving force behind the No campaign in the Voice to Parliament referendum.

Aunty Joy Murphy and Brett Ralph.

In 2024, disclosures by the Australian Electoral Commission found Ralph, a prominent sports investor, donated $175,000 to Advance Australia through his company JMR Management Consultancy Services over four years.

In a statement on Thursday, Murphy said she could not, in good conscience, participate in official Storm functions or cultural work until cultural respect and safety standards had been set.

“I carry a deep responsibility to community and will not compromise my integrity as a proud Aboriginal woman and community elder,” she said.

“We cannot support an organisation that has associations with any group that incites racial vilification and division.”

Murphy said businesses, sporting codes, and clubs had a duty of care that must be led from the board level.

“Board members cannot support organisations that create harm to our people,” she said. “Racism is dangerous. It is up to all leaders to act decisively and publicly to denounce racial harm and protect standards of safety. We want to see a commitment across all sporting codes.”

The dissonance between the club’s public stance and Ralph’s private affiliations has become a focal point of tension.

The controversy began in December last year amid media reports the Storm planned to completely scrap Welcome to Country ceremonies.

The club released a statement claiming it was not banning the ceremonies, but planned to reduce their frequency to increase their cultural significance.

In April, Murphy was booked to perform the ceremony at an Anzac Day match at AAMI Park. Performances from First Nations groups were also planned.

However, the club abruptly cancelled the ceremony at the last minute, which the Storm later attributed to an internal miscommunication regarding the classification of cultural events.

It followed an incident at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance earlier that day, when far-right agitators had booed and heckled Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown’s Welcome to Country at the Anzac Day dawn service.

The board’s decision to cancel the ceremony cost the club its partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service.

On Thursday, the Storm’s chairman Matthew Trip reiterated the club’s stance that the cancelled ceremony was due to miscommunication.

“We’ve said our piece on Anzac Day and the very clear miscommunication that took place at our end. We’ve worked hard since to make amends,” he said.

Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy.

Despite the lack of a resolution with the board, Murphy said she would attend the game on Thursday night to support the players who were also feeling hurt.

“This is about the board not the game. This is about setting a standard not just for Melbourne Storm but across all sporting codes,” she said.

“… There are many Aboriginal Nations across Australia and when people gather on my lands and the lands of my ancestors, my responsibility is to welcome them.

“While I will not do this officially tonight, I will be there to offer strength, healing and cultural safety, I do this with honour for our people, respect for what we have been given, and a commitment to diversity, inclusion, healing with purpose.”

Melbourne Storm’s main part-owners are board members: Tripp holds 35 per cent, Ralph and caravan magnate Gerry Ryan each own 25 per cent, and Tripp’s close associate Thomas Carroll has 10 per cent. An unknown trust accounts for 4 per cent, and Danielle Smith holds 1 per cent.

Melbourne University academic and Wiradjuri woman Jessa Rogers said in April that Storm’s decision to wind back the ceremonies without consultation signalled a broader disregard for the Aboriginal community.

“Welcome to Country is not performative,” Rogers said. “To dismiss the views of elders and make such a decision without consultation is not only disrespectful, but indicative of a deeper misunderstanding of what cultural respect truly entails. It is disrespectful.

“Supporting an [Indigenous] campaign, or having partnerships doesn’t give Storm a free pass to bypass community guidance or wind back culturally significant practices like Welcome to Country on a whim. Like all relationships, trust takes a long time to build but seconds to destroy.”

Melbourne Storm chairman Matthew Tripp said the club was looking forward to Thursday night’s Indigenous round.

In April, Tripp – who was appointed chairman of the club in 2020 – said Storm had to repair relationships with its Indigenous and First Nations supporter base.

“To have a miscommunication deem us as non-sensitive to Welcome to Country and beyond that, a part of Australian customs, that has upset me greatly,” he said.

The Storm said on Monday they would have an Acknowledgement of Country before their clash with the Brisbane Broncos during the NRL’s Indigenous round.

“Melbourne Storm has been in ongoing communication with members of the Wurundjeri community following the events on Anzac Day and has apologised to the individuals, groups, and communities involved. The club extends that apology to First Nations and Maori and Pasifika communities impacted,” the Storm said in a statement.

“As we continue to engage with the local community regarding connection to the club and cultural protocols and out of respect for those involved, the club will recognise the traditional owners of the land through an Acknowledgement of Country on Thursday night for Indigenous Round.”

Murphy accused the Storm of failing to recognise the cultural weight of Welcome to Country ceremonies.

“What we have learnt over the past month is that our culture, our ceremony, is not understood or respected and this makes us feel very sad,” she said.

“Cultural practice cannot be used as a token gesture.”

Melbourne Storm has been contacted for comment.

With Scott Spits and Alexander Darling