National anthem: Changing one word means nothing while we continue to fail the people we’re trying to impress
Why are we tying ourselves in knots about changing a word in our national anthem, writes Peter Gleeson, when we are failing the very people we are trying to impress?
Peter Gleeson
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Let’s just be done with the national anthem and change it once and for all to Daryl Braithwaite’s iconic Horses.
Just imagine a World Cup rugby final at Twickenham.
As New Zealanders reach for the hankies after a rousing rendition of Slice of Heaven by Dave Dobbyn, their new national anthem, replacing God Defend New Zealand, we join hands for “that’s the way it’s gonna be little darlin, we’ll be riding on the horses, yeah … way up in the sky little darlin, and if you fall I’ll pick you up, pick you up.’’
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Magnificent. Uplifting. Embodies the true spirit of Australia.
Oh, the animal welfare zealots are complaining that we’re demonising horses. Forget it.
Why are we tying ourselves in knots about changing the word in a national anthem when we are failing the very people we are trying to impress?
There’s a debate going on right now on whether we should change the lyrics of Advance Australia Fair to “better acknowledge the nation’s Indigenous history’’.
In fact, if the Australian Rugby League Commission had its way, the national anthem wouldn’t even be played at State of Origin games.
The league’s governing body had decided to jettison the national anthem but an outcry forced a quick backflip.
During the rendition of Advance Australia Fair at Origin games, many of the Indigenous players do not sing the national anthem.
It’s their way of protesting about how the song does not represent them.
Fair enough, that’s their call and it’s a free country.
But now there’s a fresh move to change the lyrics of Advance Australia Fair, changing “for we are young and free’ to “for we are one and free’’.
The call for the change is coming from political and Indigenous heavyweights, including NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian.
Let’s just do it.
The anthem has been changed on a number of occasions to reflect modern values but there should be one caveat from the NRL.
One rule.
Every player must sing every word of the new national anthem. If they don’t sing the words, dock them their $50,000 match fee.
Remember, we’re all in this together.
This constant debate around whether we should celebrate Australia Day on January 26 or sing the national anthem at big events is nebulous.
At a time when the Indigenous communities in this country have the highest incarceration, domestic violence, sexual assault, alcoholism and drug rates of any specific demographic, we’re debating the lyrics to a song?
Or changing a date because a few woke councils think it’s a good idea?
Highly paid footy players are not only remaining silent on the national anthem, they’ve also lost their voice on the plight of their people. A recent major Productivity Commission report into Indigenous funding showed that there is little evidence that current programs are effective.
The nation’s chief economic advisor has called for a complete overhaul of the billions of dollars pumped into Indigenous care.
Despite billions in funding, school attendance, child mortality, employment, life expectancy and numeracy and literacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people hasn’t improved.
Throwing money at the problem clearly doesn’t work.
It’s time for Indigenous leaders to stop staging side shows around anthems and holidays and start contributing to the national debate by formulating tangible and worthwhile policy reforms.
This is a national scandal. Where are our priorities as a nation? We can apologise all we like but the confronting reality remains – we are failing these people.
Bleeding heart Lefties, including know-it-all rappers, need to concentrate on the real issues around social equity and healthcare, rather than engage in the politics of division.
Right now, we’re just going around in circles.
When it comes to improving the lot of our First Nations people, actions speak louder than the words of a song.