Thursday, April 27

After every Anzac Day it seems we have another call to change our National Anthem. I remember I commented in June last year about Bob Ellis's call for a change.

Our national anthem, he says ..... 'makes us feel, however slightly, like dickheads. Though 'I Am, You Are, We Are Australians' brings us to tears of pride, especially when sung by children, 'Advance Australia Fair' makes us cringe. And when we stand up for it, we are usually, inwardly, lying.
Every one of the first six lines rings false. We are not young. We are not free. Our soil is not golden. Wealth does not come from toil here, but from birth or short-selling or real estate. And though we are 'girt by sea' so are all islands, and we are an island, and this is scarcely worth noting. And our land does not 'abound with precious gifts', it is two-thirds desert. Unless you count uranium I suppose, and the immensity of coal that is currently choking the planet, it does not abound, it is a desert waste.

The other side of politics is joining the push now with a government member from the Gold Coast asking for some changes. He wants the words to better reflect Australian values (I wonder what inspired that thought) and maybe include 'larrikin'. Is there a rhyme for that?

Caroline Overington of The Australian, not known for her progressive views, makes the good point that we are certainly not young; indeed we live in an ancient land. A crowd called Sovereign Union I stumbled across on the internet claims the sentiments of Advance Australia Fair came straight out of the White Australia Policy. After all, the now-ignored second verse started: When gallant Cook from Albion sailed ... As if that was the beginning .

i notice one commentator reminding us that the current National Anthem was voted for. Of course, we also voted for Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott and look where that got us.

We sang three anthems at Deloraine on Anzac Day: the Australian, the New Zealand and the British, and it was the New Zealand one which stirred the most. But I must confess to a catch in my throat when I hear Flower of Scotland.

Oh Flower Of Scotland,
When will we see, your like again
That fought and died for
Yer wee bit hill and glen
And stood against him
Proud Edward's army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again.