Australian Prime Minister Scott Morisson announced that the country’s national anthem will change one word out of respect for the aborigines. In his New Year’s address, he stressed that this will strengthen the unity of the nation after a difficult 2020, reports The Guardian .
The second line of the hymn, in which it is sung “we are young and free”, will now be performed with the words “we are one and free”. This is done to emphasize: although the Australian state is relatively young, aboriginal civilization existed in these lands for thousands of years before the arrival of the British.
The idea was submitted this year by the head of New South Wales, Gladys Berezhiklyan. Representatives of all political forces agreed that the existing text excludes the indigenous population. The changes to the anthem were supported by both houses of the Australian Parliament.
The solemn song “Develop, Beautiful Australia” was written in 1878. It has been the country’s anthem since 1984 – before that, “God Save the Queen” was performed as a national anthem in Australia.