2021, Australia sings the new hymn in the name of the Aborigines

L ‘Australia A key word in the national anthem changes with the advent of the new year.Australia presents the exhibition“(Australia offers only) to recognize the first nations, indigenous peoples who have lived on this continent for 65,000 years, and to get a better understanding of their role, cultures and histories. On the last day of 2020, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the phrase“ We are young and free ”was made Replace it with “We are united and free.” The change was approved by Governor-General David Hurley, who represents Queen Elizabeth, who is still the head of state of Australia.

Thus the word “youth”, which indigenous leaders have long objected to, disappears to make room for the word “united”. Acknowledgment of the multiculturalism of a nation that has welcomed immigrants and refugees from every country in the world, yet is rediscovering and restoring the languages ​​and cultures of hundreds of indigenous “nations”. Morrison said: “Australia, as a modern country, is relatively young, but the history of our country is ancient, and so are the stories of the First Nations, whose spirit we acknowledge and respect.” He said the change “does not remove anything, but I think it adds meaning to the text.”

“Advance Australia Fair” is a work by Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick and was first introduced in 1878, but only in 1984 was it replaced as the national anthem.God bless the queenIn effect since the time of the British settlement.

The symbolic shift comes at a time when Aboriginal Australians still face significant obstacles in achieving equal opportunity. The average life expectancy of Aboriginal men is 71.6 years, which is nearly nine years shorter than non-Aboriginal Australians. For indigenous women, the average life expectancy is 75.6 years, which is about eight years less than for non-indigenous women. The mortality rate for children under the age of five is twice that of the rest of the population.

At the beginning of 2020, in the wave of movement Black lives matterDemonstrations in several Australian cities have called for an end to indigenous deaths in arrest or detention, more than 400 people in the past 30 years.