An aboriginal activist who was booed while performing a “welcome to country” at Melbourne’s ANZAC Day dawn service publicly celebrated the political assassination of conservative icon Charlie Kirk.
Mark Brown wrote in a series of LinkedIn posts at the time that Kirk, 31, who was shot at a university event in Utah in September 2025 while answering a question from an audience member, “deserved” to be murdered.
“Charlie Kirk deserved the fate he brought on himself. When you spend your life fueling division, spreading lies, and tearing down communities, it is only a matter of time before that same poison turns back on you. His downfall isn’t tragedy – it’s justice catching up with him,” he wrote in one post.
“The irony is that the hate he spread became the weight that dragged him down.”
In a second post Brown said: “Charlie Kirk feeds on lies and his supporters gorge themselves on hate. They don’t show up for freedom – they show up to worship fear. Every time they chant his name, they spit in the face of justice. Every time they wave a flag, they wrap it around prejudice.
“Let’s be clear: standing with Charlie Kirk means standing against truth, against humanity, against everything decent. His legacy and his supporters’ legacy will be the same – ignorance dressed up as patriotism, a movement already rotting from the inside.”
Brown was booed throughout his speech at the Shrine of Remembrance on Saturday, which he delivered while wearing a zip-up hoodie, a baseball cap and a fur shawl, some of which appear to be part of his own personal merchandise line. His website also states that he charges up to $4,500 for speeches.
The hoodie bears the anti-Australian slogan “always was, always will be aboriginal land”, which was also repeated by Ray Minniecon, the indigenous activist who was booed as he delivered a “welcome to country” at the Sydney dawn service while incorrectly wearing medals.
Brown’s speech, in which he did not mention the Anzacs, and appearance have sparked criticism from veterans and other dawn service attendees, who have said they were “stunned” and insulted” by his attire.
“He turned the dawn service into a marketing stunt,” one attendee told Noticer News.
“The Anzacs didn’t give their lives so some slob could try and flog hoodies over their memory, whilst their descendants are forced to stand through a humiliation ritual.”
Attendees also told Noticer News RSL Victoria should not have platformed Brown after he was first booed while dressed in an identical manner at last year’s dawn service, saying they “put veterans second”, and “chose ceremonial box-ticking over respect for the men and women who served”.
The controversy comes amid veteran anger at the Shrine of Remembrance for a series of commercial decisions they say have dishonoured the Anzac legacy.
In late 2024, veterans reacted furiously to revelations one of Australia’s most sacred site would start hosting corporate events as part of a push to reach “diverse audiences” The five-year deal with Peter Rowland Group will see the Shrine host cocktail parties, business breakfasts and annual general meetings.
Other events have since included a New Year’s Eve Bollywood dance party headlined by a DJ called “Mothafunk” – which left litter strewn across the grounds – alongside a “Dine at the Shrine” corporate event.
Last year the Shrine sought to light its façade in rainbow colours to “commemorate LGBTQ+ people in service”, its then-CEO publicly defended Victoria Police firing rubber bullets at peaceful protesters on the sacred grounds, and patriotic Australians holding right-wing views were turned away from the site on Anzac Day itself.
