AGI – On New Year’s Eve, the government changed the national anthem in recognition of the culture, history and contribution made by the indigenous people of Australia. It’s one word, but it’s very important: in the second sentence of the national anthem titled Advance Australia Fair, the part that reads “We are young and free” has been replaced with the phrase “We are united and free”. This was announced by Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Morrison wrote in The Age: “This change does not take anything away, in fact I think it adds something to the meaning of the text.” Regarding the content of the hymn, the Australian Prime Minister explained that “Australia, as a modern country, is in fact relatively young, but the history of our country is as old as the stories of the First Nations, which we acknowledge and respect the spirit”.
The change to the national anthem was announced in recent months with the aim of giving greater recognition to Australia’s indigenous history, which dates back tens of thousands of years, but was formalized by the Prime Minister a few hours after 2021.
Australian society is characterized by serious social inequalities at the expense of its indigenous component. In early 2020, demonstrations took place in several cities to demand an end to the police killing of indigenous people during surveillance and arrest operations: In the past 30 years, 400 people have died in these circumstances.
According to official data, Indigenous children have a 50% risk of dying before the age of five compared to Indigenous children.
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