The Australian government changed a word in the national anthem on Thursday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared the second line of the Advance Australia Red Anthem, “We are young and free” instead of “we are free together”. “Australia, as a modern nation, is relatively young, but the history of our country is as old as the stories of the first nations, and we recognize and respect its spirit,” he wrote. In The Age newspaper on New Year’s Day.
One more past on the edge
He pleaded with the Prime Minister that the change “does not remove anything, but I believe it really adds meaning to the speech.”
The change was already mentioned in order to better recognize Australia’s indigenous history thousands of years ago, but the Conservative leader did not announce it until Thursday evening, a few hours before the New Year.
According to official statistics, Australia’s colonial past, with its large inequalities, is still on the brink of a country where tribal children are more than twice as likely to die before the age of five.
Earlier this year, protests in several cities across the country called for an end to tribal killings during police raids, which have killed more than 400 people over the past 30 years.
“Alcohol evangelist. Devoted twitter guru. Lifelong coffee expert. Music nerd.”