Advance Australia Fair wasn't for singing

THIRTY years ago, Australian schoolchildren were not puzzled by phrases such as "girt by sea" and "wealth for toil".

THIRTY years ago, Australian schoolchildren were not puzzled by phrases such as "girt by sea" and "wealth for toil".

The Fraser government determined Advance Australia Fair, which in 1978 had no official words, was a tune to be played and not a song to be sung.

The previous year, Australians had voted overwhelmingly in support of Advance Australia Fair becoming the national tune.

But Malcolm Fraser ruled out any move to replace God Save the Queen as the national anthem.

In a 1978 submission to cabinet, then minister for administrative services Reg Withers argued Advance Australia Fair should be regarded as "the people's choice for a national tune".

"It is a tune to be played; not a song to be sung," he wrote. "I therefore propose that where an occasion is one for singing, the appropriate course is to sing God Save the Queen."

Cabinet agreed with the senator. It decided God Save the Queen would be sung at royal and vice-regal salutes and in association with proposals for the loyal toast, during defence force service events and other occasions "where singing is appropriate".

At other functions, such as sporting events, the organiser could choose either the national anthem or national tune.

In a sign of how far Australia's current media-savvy leaders have come, the matter was not considered worthy of a press conference.

Instead, premiers were to be told by letter and the media was to be advised by press release.

It took until 1984 for the Hawke government to adopt Advance Australia Fair, written by Scotsman Peter Dodds McCormick and first performed in 1878, as the anthem. Modified versions of the song's first and third verses were adopted as the official words.

Gough Whitlam had earlier declared Advance Australia Fair to be the national anthem (except for royal occasions) -- a decision that Mr Fraser overturned.

In the 1977 plebiscite, it received 43 per cent of the vote, beating Waltzing Matilda (which received 28 per cent of the vote) and God Save the Queen (19 per cent).

Cabinet decided recordings of God Save the Queen and Advance Australia Fair would be made on cassette and provided free of charge to schools and other organisations eligible to receive the national flag, at a cost of $23,000 to taxpayers.