Australian National Anthem: We are (fill in the gap) and free
ANTHEM CHANGE?
The push to change a lyric in the Australian National Anthem has the media and public chattering once again. But will it change anything?
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has opened up the debate once again about changing a word in the Australian national anthem.
On an appearance on Sunrise on Wednesday, Berejiklian joined the “change” side, saying that rewording the second line of Advance Australia Fair from “young and free” to “one and free” would better acknowledge Australia’s indigenous history.
And, not wanting to back away from the comment, the Premier admitted she hoped her stance would kick off debate more broadly about the change.
She supported her stance by offering that, “As a very young school child I remember learning ‘Australia’s sons let us rejoice’.
“Today we sing ‘Australians all let us rejoice’,” she said.
While some public figures, such as Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney, chimed in to support of Berejiklian, others were more critical of the Premier’s words.
Making the #NationalAnthem more inclusive is an important national conversation we should have. Australia is home to the oldest continuous civilization in the world - an Australian story we can all be proud of. #NAIDOC2020
— Linda Burney MP (@LindaBurneyMP) November 10, 2020
One Nation MP and once-Labour Opposition Leader Mark Latham, known for his sometimes caustic remarks, was particularly scathing.
Taking toTwitter, Latham said, “Problem: The NSW Education Department has distributed gender fluidity and penis tucking guides to 70,000 teachers, while at Kirrawee High 13yo students are being quizzed about their heterosexuality. Response of NSW Premier: let's change one word in the Australian national anthem.”
Problem: The NSW Education Department has distributed gender fluidity and penis tucking guides to 70,000 teachers, while at Kirrawee High 13yo students are being quizzed about their heterosexuality.
— Real Mark Latham (@RealMarkLatham) November 10, 2020
Response of NSW Premier: let's change one word in the Australian national anthem.
Others on social media went in different directions, suggesting the current anthem should be replaced with what some consider our modern if unrecognised anthem We are Australian.
Discussions around changing the lyrics of the anthem, or even the anthem itself, are not new, having come up at various times over the past several decades. Advance Australia Fair became our official national anthem at a 1977 referendum when it was chosen to replace God Save the Queen, albeit by only 43% of the population.
There have been a range of boycotts since then around the anthem, with renowned opera singer Deborah Cheetham, a Yorta Yorta woman, famously declining an invitation to perform the anthem at the 2015 AFL Grand Final.
And back in 2018, debate over the wording was sparked once more by then nine-year-old Brisbane girl Harper Nielsen who argued the lyrics of the anthem disregarded Australia’s indigenous history.
Whether this latest opening up of the debate will have any momentum for change remains to be seen, although the lyrics and anthem itself do appear to be an issue the Australian government and people will have to answer at some point in the foreseeable future.
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The NSW Premier has reignited the debate about changing a word in the Australian national anthem.
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Posted by Newsport Daily on Tuesday, 10 November 2020