Australia has made the decision to change a line from your national anthem to start 2021. This measure is a way in which the country decides acknowledge their indigenous past. While the announcement, made by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison may have been surprising, it was well received across the country as reported.
The Australian national anthem, called Advance Australia Fair, had a line that referred to the country as “young and free“, young and free. That phrase has been changed to “we are one and free”, leaving the complete phrase as follows: “for we are one and free“. This modification went into effect on the same Friday, January 1, 2020.
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“Although Australia as a modern nation is relatively young, our country’s history is old, as are the stories of many First Nations people whose organization we respect and recognize.“Declared the Prime Minister on December 31, 2020. Morrison also said Australia is the”most successful multicultural nation on Earth”And explained that it is time to ensure that this is also reflected in their national anthem. He also stated that under the idea of unity, “it is right for us to ensure that our own national anthem reflects this shared truth and gratitude“, As explained by the news site Sky News.
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In reference to why that particular line referring to the nation as young and free was changed, Morrison explained that the new phrase that The replacement recognizes both the distance traveled as a nation and its national history that comes from 300 national ancestors. It should be noted that before making the change, the Prime Minister of Australia discussed the decision with the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Watt, who expressed his full support. “It is a recognition that Aboriginal culture and that of the Torres Strait Islands date back 65,000 years“.
On the other hand, as explained by the news site BBC, the new line of the national anthem also refers to the unity that the country managed to form in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
