Late on Thursday, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the anthem, “Advance Australia Fair,” which has been tweaked to recognize the country’s Indigenous history and communities.
The first line, “Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free,” will now end with “one and free.”
“Australia as a modern nation may be relatively young, but our country’s story is ancient, as are the stories of the many First Nations peoples whose stewardship we rightly acknowledge and respect,” Morrison wrote in an opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“During the past year we have shown once again the indomitable spirit of Australians and the united effort that has always enabled us to prevail as a nation,” he said. “It is time to ensure this great unity is reflected more fully in our national anthem.”
“In the spirit of unity, it is only right that we also now acknowledge this and ensure our national anthem reflects this truth and shared appreciation. Changing ‘young and free’ to ‘one and free’ takes nothing away, but I believe it adds much.”
A time of change is upon the land
This is not the first time that Australia’s anthem has had a change in wording to reflect changing times and culture. Originally composed by Peter Dodds McCormick in 1878, Advance Australia Fair was declared the official national anthem in 1984, replacing “God Save the Queen,” according to CNN News.
Prime minister Bob Hawke last recommended a modification of the national anthem to the governor-general in 1984, changing two instances of “sons” to gender-neutral phrasing.
In the more recent past, Indigenous representation, systemic inequality, and racial injustice has made the headlines, not only in Australia but in other countries around the world, as nations begin to grapple with their history.
As for the Indigenous people of Australia, many have become more vocal – pushing back against the phrase “for we are young and free” – which was a nod to when Britain’s First Fleet landed in Australia in 1788 – given Australia is home to one of the world’s oldest known civilizations.
The lyrics of Australia’s national anthem have been changed to recognize the country’s Indigenous history. The words “we are young and free” were changed to “we are one and free.” nytimes) January 1, 2021
And sometimes, it takes the youngest amongst us to bring injustice to our attention. In 2018, a nine-year-old schoolgirl refused to stand for the Australian national anthem out of respect for the nation’s Indigenous population.
As it turned out, politicians called for the girl to be kicked out of school, and blamed her parents for encouraging her to speak out. Harper Nielsen, who lives in the state of Queensland, told reporters “Advance Australia Fair” contains the line “Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free.”
“(But) when it says Advance Australia Fair, it means advance the white people,” the 9-year-old student told the local news. “And when it says ‘we are young’ it completely disregards the indigenous Australians who were here before us for 50,000 years.”
In 2019, athletes made headlines for refusing to sing the anthem at football matches. And in 2020, national rugby union players sang the anthem in the language of the Eora Nation — the first time it has been sung in an Indigenous language at a major sporting event. (Listen to the video at beginning of this story. It is beautiful).
Australia amended its national anthem to remove a reference to the country being ‘young and free’ amid calls to recognize its Indigenous history rjDlbHPA2U
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 1, 2021
Mixed reception to the new change
You could say that you can’t please all the people all of the time, yet everyone can agree that what has happened is a good start. The change has also opened up a bigger conversation about the inclusion of all races trying to live together.
CBC Canada is reporting that the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt said in a statement that he had been asked about the change and had given it his support.
Wyatt is the first Indigenous Australian to ever be elected to the federal Parliament’s lower house. He said the one-word change was “small in nature but significant in purpose. It is an acknowledgment that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures date back 65,000 years,” he said.
