The “Advance Australia Australia Fair” song has been tweeted to recognize the country’s indigenous history and communities, Prime Minister Scott Morris announced late Thursday, hours before 2021.
The first line, “Austral Australians let us all rejoice, for we are young and free,” will now end with “One and Free.”
“Australia may be relatively young as a modern nation, but the story of our country is as old as the stories of many of the first nations whose rule we rightly acknowledge and respect,” Morrison wrote in an opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald. Wrote in an opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“In a spirit of unity, it is only fitting that we now acknowledge this and make sure that our national anthem reflects this truth and shared praise. It would take nothing to change ‘young and free’ to ‘one and free’ No, but I think it adds a lot. “
The song has a history of changing the government to include more – when Peter Dodds McCormick’s original 1878 composition in 1984 was replaced with “God Save Queen”, with two examples of “sons” with gender, it was declared the official national anthem. Neutral syntax.
The national anthem has become controversial in recent years amid growing conversations about indigenous representation, systemic inequality and racial injustice. In particular, many have objected to the phrase “because we are young and independent” – Britain’s first fleet was recognized in 1888 when Australia arrived in Australia – given that Australia is home to one of the world’s oldest known cultures.
In 2018, a 9-year-old girl was attacked by leading politicians who called for her to be expelled from school because she refused to stand during the national anthem out of respect for the indigenous population. In 2019, athletes made headlines for refusing to sing the national anthem at football matches. And in 2020, the players of the National Rugby Union sang in the language of the Euro nation – the first time it was sung in the indigenous language at a major sporting event.
Peter Sales, founder and chairman of In-Profit Representation in Anthem, has been campaigning for a more comprehensive song since 2016. “It was difficult, if not impossible, for many of our indigenous people to sing the words’ Advance Australia Australia ‘,” Fair’, “Vikri said on Friday. “We can’t just keep the national anthem that hurts its own people.”
Vickery worked with other indigenous leaders and singers to create alternate, more comprehensive songs – a modified term “one and free” that Morris adopted. His campaign gained more visibility and momentum last year when New South Wales state premier Gladys Berezkilia expressed his support.
“To be honest I’m happy,” Vickery said. “It achieves the main objective of our work, which was to transform hurtful words into inclusion words and adapt to the multicultural society of the 21st century.”
Other prominent Indigenous Australian Australians, including Indigenous Austral Australian Minister Ken Wyatt and Olympic gold medalist sprinter
Kathy Freeman, Also celebrate change.
But it also received skepticism from some who considered it inevitable, and more symbolic than affecting any real change.
“A word change in the national anthem is not good enough!” Swadeshi tweeted the former World B boxing Xing Champion
Anthony Mundine On Friday, he added that the country “needs to scrap the song and make a fresh start with a new piece of black history and white history.”
Vickery openly acknowledged such criticisms, saying that the symbolic power of the campaign “could never be an alternative to matter.” But, he added, the national anthem was still “a very important step”.
Other critics preached unity and included “free” in the Psalms
Scanty as controversial policies for asylum seekers and refugees detained in Australia’s notorious offshore immigration centers, as well as systemic barriers facing the indigenous population.
While the country’s indigenous population is 3.3% of its 25 million people, they account for more than a quarter of its 41,000 prisoners. Indigenous Austral Australians are also almost twice as likely to die by suicide, life expectancy is about nine years lower, and infant mortality rates are higher than non-native Austral Australians.
The unemployment rate for Indigenous Austral Australians is 4 times the national average.
Ian Heim, chairman of the indigenous organization First Nations Foundation, praised the changed song – but also released other, more concrete actions that are needed.
For example, like other Commonwealth countries like New Zealand and Canada, Australia still has no treaty between its government and its indigenous peoples. The Australian Australian Constitution also does not explicitly mention the country’s indigenous population.
“I think it’s a good move, but in the end, it’s just a step, one thing,” Ham said. “And the national anthem is just that – it’s a song. Equality of opportunity for Aboriginal people, and a whole bunch of other initiatives and changes and efforts to create equality in life outcomes for Aboriginal people.”
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