It is acknowledging the traditional people of the land, past and present. Due to the varying tribes in Australia there is a different tribe to thank depending on which city you go into.
Its being done at various levels of government across Australia and as
VB's charity this year is indiginous Australia it is thought to go hand in hand with this. BG has asked CS's to make the PA until the
VB Charity Ball in March which is fine for him as he doesnt have to make the PA then explain what its all about. As we have just had our PM say "Sorry" to the stolen generation it has come at quite a divisive time in the Australian political scene and smacks of tokenism by the company. People have to remember that nearly half the population didnt want the government to say sorry and the previous liberal government didnt want to either.
As one CS said to me, under the "keeping the workplace fair" rules it is a political statement and therefore you are being harrassed if you dont feel comfortable making such statements.
People can think I am being racist by not making the PA's but there are other ways for the company to do this, (ad's, voyuer mag, v'licious menu, etc) as usual they are just trying to do it the cheapest way and its going to sound insincere from most CS's if they are forced to make it.