- Sunday Mail -
Australia Day Special
How Australian is Advance Australia Fair?
Australian identity is something or someone that represents Australia, in a positive or negative way, is up to interpretation. Songs and poems have been written about Australia, but how well do they represent us. In our Australia Day special we will be reviewing our National Anthem Advance Australia Fair, and seeing how well it represents our culture, practices and lifestyle.
Our National Anthem was originally written and composed in 1878 by Peter Dodds McCormick, but not until 19 April 1984 was it proclaimed as Australia’s National Anthem in which it replaced the current royal anthem of God Save the Queen.
The competition to find an Australian anthem was held in 1973, in which thousands of entries were made. The judges decided that they did not meet the standards of Waltzing Matilda or Advance Australia Fair.
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It includes five verses and the lost sixth verse. It unites the nation of any age, colour, shape and gender to bring Australians together as one. Often used to represent a team or organisation and performed at sport and community events.
In previous years, controversy has been caused by the possibility in changing the National Anthem. Judith Durham, speaking for the Aboriginal population, believes it should be changed to suit them more as they feel alienated and disregarded as there is no mention of stolen land. Jeff Kennett voiced his opinion in the matter, stating he wanted it changed to I am Australian by The Seekers. The change in the anthem was not approved and both our anthem and our country’s identity has not changed.
After a complete review of Advance Australia Fair, Australian Identity has been formed in a positive way, by reflecting the lifestyle and history of
...our in the development of Australian identity has been demonstrated through the ideas previously described. Our humour is very unique and is described as dry, anti-authoritarian, ironic, self-mocking and is able to stretch the boundaries of what is normally accepted by society. This humour plays an important part in the Australian Identity. Many events in Australia’s history have shaped our individual type of humour into what it is today such as the Anzacs at Gallipoli, early federation and settlement. Much of our humour has developed through times of great hardship such as the World Wars. Other countries see humour as a distinctive part of our identity. So it can now be seen that due to the overwhelming information explaining how and why humour is significant, that it can be realised that it played a very fundamental role in the development of Australian identity.
The 2014 Walkley Award winning documentary, "Cronulla Riots: the day that shocked the nation" reveals to us a whole new side of Aussie culture. No more she’ll be right, no more fair go and sadly no more fair dinkum. The doco proved to all of us (or is it just me?) that the Australian identity isn’t really what we believe it to be. After viewing this documentary
I personally believe that Australia day should NOT be changed as, Australia Day is the official sthe arrival of the First Fleet of the 11 convict ships from Great Britain, and the raising of the Union Jack at Sydney Cove by its commander Captain Arthur Phillip, in 1788. However Australia Day for many Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander people see as a day of sorrow and grieving.
stage for the development of Australian cultural identity and the values, attitudes and beliefs of
Australia is a very unique place, along with our multiculturalism there is also a strong heritage surrounding us. At first thought of Australian heritage we think about such landmarks as Uluru, The Sydney harbour bridge and The Sydney opera house, The Great Barrier reef and other internationally recognised places. But our heritage goes much deeper than that; it is far more than outstanding icons. Along with these icons there are also unsung places like the old cattle stations, Aboriginal missions, migrant hostels, War memorials, our unique wetlands and the towns and cities we have built. Adding all of these things together, helps to tell the story of who we are and how we have shaped this land in the unique identity it has today.
Our current flag suggests that as a country, we value Great Britain more highly than our own native people. Yet when the AGB conducted a nation-wide survey it discovered that 66% of those polled supported elements of the Aboriginal flag appearing on a new Australian flag. This is another example of our current flag not representing Australians.
Of course it is naïve to believe that Australians only developed an identity after the First World War, but it is true to say that it was changed forever. Before Australia became the Australia known today, it was a land of bush rangers, farmers and convicts; a penal colony that had ambitions of becoming a nation who self-governed and had unified defence and transport*. Before federation Australia had fought in Sudan and the Boer War to provide support to the mother country as it was thought to be a heroic endeavour that was a type of rite of passage (Australian War Memorial, n.d.) and there was a global perception of who and what Australians were. Upon federation the people were very consciously intent on building themselves into a great nation (Bean, 1993), but not to sever ties to Britain completely as mostly foreign policy relied on what the British government dictated (Rickard, 1992).
Australia Day, celebrated on the 26th of January every year, is a nationally recognised day that signifies the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet. It’s a historic event that also marks the beginning of the oppression of the Indigenous people, that still can occur today, no matter how much the Government has tried to atone for the sins of the past. Australia Day is a day of celebration and mourning, a fact that contributes to the constant bickering between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous. There are many who believe that the meaning behind the modern Australia Day is overshadowed by the past, which will prevent the nation from moving forward, much like Ben Roberts-Smith who published an opinion piece in the Herald Sun on the 26th
Nearly four decades after the events at Eureka Stockade, Henry Lawson marked the death of the battle's leader, Peter Lalor, with an anti-establishment piece of verse, 'Eureka!'. In this and other poems such as his first, 'The Republic', 'The Fight of Eureka Stockade' and 'Freedom of the Wallaby', Lawson may well have been trying to light the fire of Australian nationalism and a move to independence with our own flag, The Southern Cross.
Our flag is flown by the government and Australian citizens all around the world and it is embarrassing to know that foreigners still do not associate the flag with Australia. It is far too similar to other countries flags, yet we still do nothing about it. For instance, the Southern Cross appears on many other flags, as does the Union Jack, such as New Zealand, Papa New Guinea and Brazil. An original flag, commemorating our nation’s values and cultural diversity would be largely beneficial, especially considering much of the population has immigrated from overseas. Isn’t it time for the current flag to be gracefully retired and a new one
The first Anzac was acknowledged in London and referred as ‘the day Australia became a nation’
Through numerous poetic techniques Paterson has shown that the Australian diversity is as diverse as the country itself. The Australian identity concerns the way Australia is viewed by other people. There are a variety of different aspects that contribute to this identity of Australia which include historical icons. Paterson recognizes how lucky we are to live on a land notorious for its diverse landscape. He is signaling that we are missing out and we need to cherish the great land we were given.
There is also a reference to our military history in the line ‘After wars and battles’. These lines recognise and express gratitude for the sacrifice that Australians soldiers made so that we may be able to live in a peaceful, democratic society.
Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.
Paul Keating’s “The Redfern Address” is a text that allows responders to explore and understand the possibilities of belonging. The text is specifically aimed at helping non-indigenous Australians explore and understand the possibility of not belonging. This is communicated through the constant use of personal pronouns, e.g. ‘us’ or ‘we’, to direct the entire text at non-indigenous Australians like Keating.