Controversial 'boat people' lamb ad sparks Australian anger

  • 12/01/2017

Meat and Livestock Australia's Australia Day lamb ad is an annual fixture.

It traditionally marks the occasion by mocking vegans and people who eat "foreign" food like "a number 42 with rice".

But this year things have changed, with the release of a politically charged lamb ad which tackles indigenous land rights and immigration.

The ad begins with a group of Indigenous Australians setting up a BBQ and cooking some lamb.

However, their peace and quiet is shattered by a succession of settler groups - including the Dutch, British, French, Germans, Chinese, Italians, Greeks, Serbians, and New Zealanders - who gatecrash their meal in a parade of cultural stereotypes.

Then someone shouts: "Look! It's the boat people!" And an old overcrowded ship of asylum seekers moves into view.

"Hang on, aren't we all boat people?" celebrity chef Poh Ling Yeow asks, and the crowd cheers.

Australia Day celebrates the arrival of the British First Fleet. However, it has long been criticised by Indigenous Australian groups who label it 'Invasion Day'.

The ad has been criticised by Indigenous Australians for trivialising the violence and land theft they suffered from colonisation - but has also been attacked by viewers as being too "politically correct" to even mention Australia Day.

The ad finishes with the slogan "you'll never lamb alone".

Newshub.