Australian anthem what does it mean

The explanation of 'the historic facts' in the original version has been removed as an embarrassment. The emptiness posited by 'Advance Australia Fair' is deeply ironic. It represents a refusal of the ethical question which must lie under European presence in Australia. The land is empty because we emptied it. We have land to share because we took land. We only get to look generous because of a theft for which we do not wish to acknowledge responsibility.

We sing from an emptiness wrought on ourselves in the act of emptying; the emptying of the land and at once the popular consciousness: emptying it of the fact of the emptying. Emptying ourselves of truth is the reflective act of nation: the basis of the collectivity on which a polity is claimed.

It is a making colourless. How fair would that be? The 'Australians all The inscrutable sign of identity becomes a kind of rite of passage; something which needs to be explained to children and migrants alike.

Perfect form of mystification to express as collective sentiment the sentiment of collectivity; no one can definitively know what these words mean. The unknowable privileges a teachers' grasp of the archaic as originary lore: the teacher says it means 'Let's all work together to make Australia a beautiful country, a great country' or 'We should all be proud of Australia because it's such a great country, so we should pull together to make it even better.

Who could object? The central ambiguity means that when we sing the song we don't know whether we are describing how things are or how they should be. Advance Australia because it is fair or so that it will be fair or both reasons: to keep the fair fair?

Of course this speculation begs the question about the meaning of the word 'fair'. Of all the various dictionary entries for the word fair the three which seem to coalesce in this usage are: fair as in beautiful, fair as in just and fair as in white.

I would argue that these three uses coalesce likewise in the use of fair equally in that typically Australian expression, fair enough: characteristic expression of a country seriously worried for most of its European history about the risk of racial impurity even from 'other' Europeans. In the song the line is emphatic because it is actually repeated in each rendition of the chorus.

It is the point the song is making. Or we could say it is the question the song asks: how should Australia be advanced? But this form of the question implies an adverbial construction. An adverb in this position would imply process and therefore a future orientation toward the quality of that process: how Australia ought to be advanced. But if the 'fair' of the chorus is really an adjective then the implication is that Australia is already a 'fair' entity; in advancing Australia one advances its already attained quality of fairness.

The beautiful inhabit a just polity. A just polity is a white polity. This is the advance, in the song, that is happening, or has happened, in Australia. In fact this is the advance which the European word Latin made English down here constitutes for the continent formerly known to Europe as New Holland: Australia is becoming a white man's country. This song is specifically about the civilising process, about the white man's burden, as it applied to this particular far-flung reach of empire.

The advance of the title concerns the progress of civilisation; it assigns to this process a very specific metaphor, that of a military movement. The progress of the white race over the continent is an advance.

What appears to be an external motion promote Australia abroad belies an internal one: the still ongoing process of conquest and likewise the encouragement to get that done without miscegenation. That Aborigines are given no specific role in this song becomes less mysterious in this light: it is not their country or nationality which is being described here; rather the advance of fair Australia, an advance which takes place at the expense of an unmentioned unmentionable?

The non-inclusion of Aboriginal people in the Australian polity prior to the referendum shocks many today. Listen to more recordings. The Prime Minister's full media release is available on his website. In joyful strains then let us sing, Advance Australia Fair. Download a printable word sheet. As a result, the Australia Council for the Arts recommended the final choice for the Anthem should be made from these three songs.

When The Queen is in Australia, the Royal Anthem is played at the beginning of an official engagement and the Australian National Anthem is played at the end. On some occasions it may be appropriate to play both anthems at the beginning of the engagement. There are no restrictions on singing or using the Royal Anthem at a community event irrespective of any member of the Royal Family being present.

The Vice-Regal salute was proclaimed in It is also the name of David Hunt's highly-recommended obscure Australian history books series Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia and True Girt which recounts bizarre and often long forgotten pieces of Australian history.

While US athletes made headlines last year refusing to stand for their national athem and instead, kneeling in down in protest of racism and police brutality, Australia too has used its national song for activist purposes.

Last year professional boxer Anthony Mundine created controversy by branding the anthem as "racist" and refusing to stand when it is sung. Wiradjuri man, Joe Williams, made headlines this time two years ago for refusing to stand for the national anthem after he was named Wagga Wagga Citizen of the Year on the January 26th celebrations, saying, he does not believe the current anthem represents this country's First Nations people.

In a less politically charged protest, others have simply disliked it as a song. In then Nationals Senator, Sandy McDonald, called the song 'boring' and said it should be scrapped "before we all go to sleep singing it". Joe Williams: Why I decided to make a stand, or sit Joe Williams, the Wagga Citizen of the Year, on his decision to remain seated during the singing of the national anthem on Australia Day.

Despite national competitions, polls, and an eventual plebiscite in to find a new national song to replace 'God Save the Queen', it wasn't until 7 years later that Advance Australia Fair became our official National Anthem. Given all the controversy that happens whenever a prominent Aboriginal person refuses to stand for the national anthem, it is well worth noting that according to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet , "Individuals or organisations can perform Advance Australia Fair in a language other than English, but this should not be represented as a version of the Australian National Anthem.

As a result, protocols do not apply to its use e. In the self-proclaimed 'land of the fair-go' most probably don't think twice about the use of the word 'fair' in our national anthem.

However, since we are also a country who made The White Australia Policy our very first piece of legislation after Federation in , it is probably not an unreasonable question to ask. In his paper How Fair is Fair: The Colour of Justice in Australia's official anthem , writer and academic, Christopher Kelen argues that the kind of 'fairness' being repeated with every redition of the chorus is specifically about the civilising process of the white man.

Kelen suggests that either use of the word 'fair'; beautiful, just or white , the main point the song makes by 'rejoicing' the advancement of Australia is one of the Terra Nullius myth, where we don't want to acknowledge a time before our European coming. To stand in front of the largest live audience you are ever likely to see and perform the national anthem. She also suggested some new lyrics in this article; 'lyrics penned by Australian legend Judith Durham in consultation with Muti Muti singer songwriter Kutcha Edwards'.

Australia, celebrate as one, with peace and harmony. Our precious water, soil and sun, grant life for you and me. With joyful hearts then let us sing, advance Australia fair. Australia, let us stand as one, upon this sacred land. Combine our ancient history and cultures everywhere, To bond together for all time, advance Australia fair. Australia, let us strive as one, to work with willing hands.