When we’re all not singing from the same song sheet

I agree with Henry Ergas. that the national anthem belongs to all Australians (“Anthem is not the PM’s, it belongs to the nation”, 8/1). That sentiment should have been observed in 1974 when the Arts Council chose three songs for selection of our national anthem to replace God Save the Queen. Fast forward 46 years and we are now stuck with an anthem that is not fit for purpose. If the idea is to make it relevant, then changing a word here and there won’t cut it and we may as well start looking for a better alternative.

Lynda Morrison, Bicton, WA

Henry Ergas makes a salient point when he refers to how Scott Morrison with the stroke of a pen and very little public consultation changed a word of our national anthem. Not as big a step as Bob Hawke who changed the anthem entirely. Most Australians are unperturbed by the change from “young” to “one”. I believe that this reflects the fact that must Australians do not hold our anthem close to our hearts. While the words of Dorothea Mackellar are well chosen and meaningful, the playing of our anthem does little for the soul. I have sung our anthem with gusto given the opportunity but it has never once raised one hair on the back of my neck which anthems are supposed to do. I think the only future for a rousing anthem is a melody-only anthem with no words because with so many divergent groups we will never ever be able to settle on words which satisfy all of our ambitions. I do not think that we are one.

Peter D. Surkitt, Sandringham, Vic

Henry Ergas’s majestic article was a reminder it will be next to impossible to refine Advance Australia Fair to satisfy the whims of every citizen, critic and commentator.

This is a tremendous social shame, as I was present at the Sydney 2000 Olympics when Cathy Freeman ran her glorious 400m race and won; the visceral sense of pride afterwards in the stadium during the singing of the anthem was simply intoxicating.

As Ergas notes, words still have meaning today, and so the question perhaps is whether the removal of “young” was solely based upon our merely vernacular understanding of the word, rather than the underpinning historical context of the remarkable civil foundations of Terra Australis.

While most Australians would be comfortable singing “For we are one and free”, the problem with making any subsequent changes is that it undermines the fact that the anthem’s affirmation of us being a free nation below the Southern Cross, beautifully encapsulates what Noel Pearson recently called in his Declaration of Australia the three strands of our grand narrative: an Indigenous foundation, British institutions and a modern-day multicultural character.

Rightly or wrongly, there are genuine fears that further capitulation to those with the loudest whines will inevitably turbocharge the grievance industry and perpetuate the us and them mentality, with which aggrieved inner-city activists so dearly love to bash mainstream citizens on January 26 each year; first it is the anthem, then the flag, then perhaps our citizenship pledge that gets the woke makeover.

After such a civilly disorientating year we need to strengthen the sinews of our societal unity, not let them go slack into a renewed tribalism.

Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn, Vic

Crowded out

Congratulations to Gideon Haigh on breathing some perspective and common sense into the SCG attendance versus COVID debate.

My impression of the spectators seen in the stands (on TV) did not meet my definition of a “crowd”, unlike what can routinely be seen in shopping centres or outside Strathfield station for example. Personally, I would have felt safer at the SCG than in many other notionally “socially distanced” Sydney locations.

Mike Cuming, Carlingford, NSW

Border follies

The various border closures are political jokes. Closing state borders, is bordering on irrationality worthy of “Trump channelling premiers”. It is about time we started having one government across the Commonwealth. If nothing else it would reduce the duplication and cost to taxpayers. More importantly it would ensure a consistent approach to dealing with national security, health pandemics, bushfires, policing, vehicle registration and electricity prices.

Wayne Brown, Queanbeyan, NSW Having gone through 14 days home quarantine in Western Australia after travelling from the NT in October I can vouch for the professional and efficient manner COVID plans were reviewed, enforced and tracked. The WA government should be commended for keeping the local economy alive while protecting citizens through decisive policies and easy-to-use apps.

Bruce Perry, Casuarina, NT