Advance Australia Fair Analysis

Furthermore, concerning the language and the Australian-specific expressions that I have identify in this song, I can distinguish as relevant ones “smoko”, “true blue”, “Vegemite”, “mate” or “fair dinkum”, because in my opinion they convey some main aspects of Australian daily life and

Australia is a very culturally diverse country, meaning that it consists of many cultures and ethnicities from around the world. This diversity is mostly due to immigration,

Significant cultural differences between the Indigenous Australians and the free settlers caused immediate impacts upon the Indigenous Australians, causing disputes and even death. The free settlers didn’t understand that the Aboriginal people had strong connections to the land and this resulted in many Indigenous people becoming dispossessed from the land and free settlers using the land for their own uses. Because of

Mateship. Adventurous. Loyal. Free. Proud. These are the typical words Australians use to describe themselves, to identify themselves as different from the rest of the world. But who is an Australian? Someone that was born in Australia? Only people we choose to call Australian? People with great achievements that we choose to take credit for? Only people that love sport and vegemite? Or maybe only people with ‘Aussie’ accents? The Australian population is a proud one indeed, proud of their nation, their achievements and their own independent way of life, but sometimes us Aussies, forget about the rest of the world and all those other people that make us, who we are.

Even though that was twelve years ago, there still is gender inequality regarding the gender pay gap. Women today are still not making as much as men. Today, on average a woman earns 78 cents per dollar earned by a man. (O’Brien, 2015).

This is where assimilation comes into play I believe. Aboriginal people were expected to give up their own culture and traditions and adopt the Western way of living, with the expectation that they would all assimilate (Stanley et al. 2002). This was further developed as a formal government policy in 1951 (Gerrer 2013). I believe what really triggered my outrage was what happened to the children when they were taken away. It was shown to us in class that most children were not put into better households, with a better support system. In fact they were made to be white peoples slaves, with some cases of sexual abuse and other terrible acts of sinfulness (Lousy Little Sixpence 1983). These Aboriginal families were told a lie that their children would be sent off to gain an education but instead were not aware in actually their innocent children where soon to become the slaves of a rich Caucasian families, with no where to escape (Lousy Little Sixpence 1983). I feel as if I’ve been fed false information about the history of the country I live in.

Australia... land of the sun, beaches and kangaroo’s, known for being a free and multicultural country accepting you, no matter whom you are... or so we thought. Kevin Gilbert’s insightful poem ‘The New True Anthem’ tries to uncover the faults hidden under Australia’s picturesque surface. It depicts an Aboriginals’ view of Australia, comparing images of Australia to the harsh reality that the author feels is happening in this country. The destruction of the environment and the poor treatment of Aboriginal people are common themes that can be seen throughout the poem which contrast ideas about Australia such as natural beauty and freedom.

There are many diverse interpretations of the words “Australian Identity”. The national anthem, as evidenced in Stand Up, is a primarily white interpretation of Australia and the Australian identity, with many of the lines ignoring the Indigenous people of Australia (Perkins et al, 2012). Another form of the “Australian Identity” was one presented by Prime Minister Paul Keating in his Redfern Address in 1992. He proclaimed that “Australia is a first-rate social democracy…truly the land of the fair go and the better chance”. This idea presented represents an egalitarian society, where every single human has an equal opportunity at life. Yet another, shown in the songs Paul Kelly sang, but especially in “this land is mine” is the difference between the identity of Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians (Kelly et al, 2001). Each of these texts addressed a major issue. Stand Up compared the relative value of tradition and the right to freedom of expression. Keating’s speech expressed the need for justice and recognition of both the stolen generation and the injustices done to the Indigenous people as a whole. Kelly’s songs represent the importance of the land to Indigenous people and why the “returning of the land” is so important. Although they each mentioned a major issue, the texts all gave solutions to these issues, from reiterating the importance of the basic human right of freedom of speech in Stand Up, to explaining the role and qualities of the Aboriginal

In 1984, Peter McCormick’s “Advance Australia Fair” officially became Australia’s national anthem. A song we proudly sing both on Anzac Day and Australia Day, with our hand’s on our heart. Should we be proud to sing a song about absolute lies? “Australians all let us rejoice, For we are young and free”, it took aboriginals over 60 years to be recognized as human beings, let alone Australians, they were anything but free. “For those who’ve come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share”, that whole sentence is a lie, we have stopped the boats, we don't want to share our boundless plains. We lock up our immigrants in Detention Centers, replicating that of cages. All of us here are living a free life and a safe life and for the majority of us, it is our reality and has been since the day we were born. I’m

These children were put into the white homes and were prompted to adopt on the white ways. Parents had neither say nor rights in regards in keeping their child. This law stood from the 1900 to 1969 and in some cases until the 70’s. The aim for this law was to get rid of the Indigenous Australians leaving only the British settlement. On February 13th 2008 our former prime minster Kevin Rudd had apologised for the stolen generation.

In order to have a strong society that is able to meet challenges, Australias system of government is based upon core beliefes and attitudes that are respected by most members of the community in Australias democratic society. For example, our society is based on prevailing beliefes that the people, in free and fair elections, will elect a government that premotes freedom, tolerance and cooperation of the people by upholding basic human rights. Australia’s institutions and practices reflect British and North American traditions combined in a way that is unique to Australia and its people. We are lucky in Australia to have so many rights and freedoms that a lot of other countries around the world do not get to experience. An example of this

Australia has always been centered around diversity and change, specifically with the vast multiculturalism and migrant culture throughout the nation. The specifics of Identity hold an important role in shaping our identity as students and as a nation. Australians pride themselves on being a land of the free and full of diverse culture. This is specifically referred to in our national Anthem; “For those who've come across the seas, We've boundless plains to share; With courage let us all combine,”(McCormick, 1984). Displaying Australia’s open attitude towards immigrants and contributes to the diversity present within our society today. Even before this, much of Australia’s Identity was associated with caucasian culture (Originating from British Settlers). Which is the dominant perception of Australia through the media with australian representation being present through the stereotypes of Bogans, which was made popular through shows like Kath and Kim (ABC, 2007). Also, represented through the popular depiction of Australian people - the bushman made popular by movies like Crocodile Dundee (Faiman, 1986) and through famous real life bushman; Steve Irwin. An important aspect of Australian identity which is consistently neglected is the culture and representation of the initial owners of the land; the aboriginal people. Throughout history the constant mistreatment and neglect of the indigenous, has lead to a massive gap in privilege between the aboriginal people and our

In Australia over the last 20 years, it is documented that a person’s income and wages, differs based on one’s gender, known as the gender pay gap (The Conversation, 2017; Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), 2017c). This paper will discuss what a gender pay gap is, various economic explanations for this gap, summarise sociological responses, and identify possible policy recommendations and their implications.

A key component of Australian culture today is not only their diversity, but more importantly, the

This is not the Seventeenth Century where races must stay within their own country. There is much you don’t know about Australia except for old marketing stereotypes. An idiot criticized Australia for “no poetry and novels”, lol, just because he’s ignorant but thinks he is a “culture vulture”. Australia is very multi-cultural, so I’m not interested in you if you have a small-minded view of the World. Facebook enables prejudice and a narrow-minded view of the World, lol.