Taree District Court was the scene of a state, if not a national, first welcome.

The text in this announcement is a verbatum copy of the front page story of the Manning Times, Tuesday 22 July 2008. The ALS was involved in this event, and we should all be pround of the efforts of the ALS Taree staff and Judge Toner.

A 'Welcome to Country' was held in the district court room at the request of District Court judge Mr Robert Toner, to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land, the Biripi and Worimi people.

Lou Stanton from the Aboriginal Legal Service, who was involved in organising the event, said a ceremony of this kind has never taken place in a district court in New South Wales and no one present yesterday knew of any other to have taken place in Australia.

The ceremony began to the sounds of the didgeridoo as Judge Toner and John Clark (who spoke on behalf of the Biripi Elders Council) entered the room.

"I acknowledge the Biripi and Worimi people, the traditional custodians of the land, and I pay respect to the elders, past and present, and extand that respect to the Indigenous Australians present here today," Judge Toner said.

This was followed by a performance of the 'Welcome Dance' by the Darrabin Dancers (Adam Russell, Wayne Paulson, Brent Morris and Josh Ricketts, pictured above).

John Clark, who clarified that he does not consider himself an elder but was asked to speak on their behalf, said it was a great honour for the ceremony to be held in the courthouse.

"It's really something special," he said.

Judge Toner said that he found the experience 'ver moving'.

Others in attendance included members of the Aboriginal LEgal Service including Peter North, Gail Russell, Lou Stanton; Aboriginal court liaison officer Wayne Paulson, Taree Local Court magistrate Mr Paul Bylos, legal professionals, representatives of the Aboriginal community, court staff, representatives of the Manning Great Lakes Local Area Command, general manager of the Greater Taree City Council Gerard Jose, and many more.

The ceremony was held at the start of the current three-week Taree District Court sittings, over which Judge Toner will preside.