Ed Space
We need a First Nations verse of Advance Australia Fair. It is overdue.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Put patriotism aside, if you listen to Advance Australia Fair with or without words, it sounds very British and dated.
It doesn't really speak of modern-day Australia and what we represent. Yet it is salvageable.
If you watched the Matildas versus New Zealand opening match of the Olympics this week you would have heard both Advance Australia Fair and the New Zealand national anthem, God Defend New Zealand, without words just music.
And in all honesty, in that format, they both sound as dry and as stale as each other.
However, if you hear God Defend New Zealand sung in in both English and Maori, which became conventional for the Kiwis after the 1999 Rugby World Cup, you would not hear a more spine-tingling, inspirational national anthem anywhere.
By simply adding the indigenous language it takes that anthem to a stratospheric level and speaks more to what modern New Zealand represents.
The question here in this country will be which dialect of First Nations language you use, but in the end does that matter?
Just pick one. Here in the Illawarra we've heard it sung in Dharawal at events such as Hawks' games for instance and it's spectacular.
Many Australian sporting organisations are already starting to take New Zealand's lead of their own accord.
In December last year the Wallabies sang Advance Australia Fair in both the language of the Eora Nation of coastal Sydney and English before their international match against Argentina. It created international headlines.
The anthem was performed by young musician Olivia Fox but the Wallabies linked arms and sung proudly in unison behind her. It was a first for an international event involving an Australian national team.
If you didn't see it at the time, I challenge you to watch it this weekend. It's on YouTube. I also dare you to not to get a lump in your throat.
Over the next two weeks we will watch the Tokyo Olympics and of course we will feel an immense amount of pride as the anthem plays and the flag is raised at gold medal ceremonies.
Of course we will. But imagine how much more heightened that would be if we associated it with a modern, inclusive Australia,