Is the Indigenous All Stars national anthem protest dinkum?
If Latrell Mitchell and Anthony Mundine don’t like Australia’s national anthem let’s give it an overhaul. It won’t be the first time, writes MIKE COLMAN
Sport
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Interesting to read that the NRL’s indigenous advisory group is considering dropping the national anthem from next season’s All Stars game.
The move comes after boycotts by indigenous players Latrell Mitchell, Josh Addo-Carr and Cody Walker during the playing of the anthem at the last Origin series and other players including Will Chambers, Blake Ferguson, James Roberts, Tyrone Peachey and Tyrone Roberts doing the same at last season’s All Stars match.
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Added to similar protests by indigenous athletes such as rugby league player-turned-boxer Anthony Mundine, Australian sports officials are concerned it could escalate along the lines of the Colin Kaepernick “kneel out” that rocked the NFL and NBA in the US.
So how’s this for a solution?
We just change the words to keep everyone happy.
According to Mundine the major cause for concern among his people is use of the word “free” in the opening line.
Fine. Get rid of it. It’s not as though it hasn’t been done before.
When I was at primary school in the 1960s Advance Australia Fair began, “Australia’s sons let us rejoice …”
Try getting away with that these days.
It was only when we ditched God Save the Queen that the first revision got the green light.
Oh yeah, let’s not forget that Advance Australia Fair has only been our national anthem since we chose it over Waltzing Matilda in a referendum in 1977.
In the early ‘80s the words were so unknown that they were shown on the big screens at major sporting events so people could sing along.
So much for the woman who wrote a letter to the editor asking what the Anzacs would have said about Latrell and co refusing to join in with Advance Australia Fair at Origin.
I’m guessing they would have said, “What’s that awful song? What happened to God Save the King?”
So, if it’s got less than half a century of history and it’s already been changed once for the sake of inclusion, what the big deal about changing it again?
After all, if Anthony Mundine can stand on the tennis court of his multimillion-dollar Sydney home and say that Australia is not a free country, who are we to argue?
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And while we’re at it, we can fix some other glaring problems in the lyrics. Such as, I for one take offence at the inference that all Australians are young. So how about this for starters:
Australians all let us rejoice for we are young and old.
While combating racism and ageism through the axing of “free” and inclusion of “old”, this also offers up a solution to another major problem with the song: the worst phrase in the history of lyrics, “girt by sea”.
Firstly, no one knows what it means, and second, even if they did, who cares? So we’re an island. So what? It’s hardly worth singing about.
As a shout out to Generation Y I propose as the second line:
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil, we don’t do what we’re told.
With brings us to another tricky part – the bit about our land abounding in rich and rare natural gifts.
This is bound to upset the anti-mining lobby, so I suggest a slight re-jig. I haven’t totally nailed it yet but I’m thinking of something involving “abound” and “leave it in the ground”.
So what do you think? I hoping Latrell will approve and agree to sing along at all the big games he plays in over the next few years.
As soon as he can find someone prepared to sign him to a contract.
Originally published as Is the Indigenous All Stars national anthem protest dinkum?