We are young, but we are many; and from all the lands on earth we come. We’ll share a dream and sing with one voice, “I am, you are, we are Australian.”
They are songs that invoke pride and spirit. Songs we sing freely, frequently and yet without much regard for their true meaning or inspiration, even on Australia Day.
Their words true to working on the land; a land deeply etched with culture and indigenous spirituality. Overflowing with stories, Australianisms and plenty of nods to the unique characteristics of this land.
Our history as a country is more than white settlement, it’s about indigenous histories too. Rather than “celebrate” Australia Day, let us learn more about our history, all of it.
So on this Australia Day, we invite you to take a sing-a-long journey of sorts to discover the essence of what it means to be an Australian in 2017…
Young and free
🎶🌿Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free… 🎶 {Advance Australia Fair}
When you sing the national anthem, Advance Australia Fair, are you singing it on autopilot or with patriotism and pride? We live in a country where our children can freely go to school and more often than not grow up to have children of their own.
And although they may be growing up in a society riddled with technology and life hacks, it’s important to reclaim the freedom of both yours and their childhood before life passes by. Encourage your little ones to play outside until sundown today. Play some backyard cricket… Splash about under the sprinkler and enjoy what it means to be an Australian. Young, free and extremely lucky to live in this beautiful nation of ours.
Golden Soil
🎶🌿 With golden soil and wealth for toil…🎶 {Advance Australia Fair}
Rich in beauty, there is no other place in the world that has beaches like ours. In fact, we’re pretty much renowned for them. Crystal clear waters lapping at the shore or roaring waves crashing upon golden sands. We’ve even cascading waterfalls…
So if you’re blessed to live by the beach then it’s only Australian to pack an esky, bucket and spade, and enjoy our beautiful golden beaches this Australia Day. Why? Because we take for granted just how lucky we are to live in a country that offers bountiful opportunities, pristine coastlines and lush landscapes. There are many in the world, who are not fortunate enough to enjoy such natural wonders in the freedom that we as Australians — regardless of race, culture or religion — are privileged to. Take time to reflect on this today and begin the conversation of conservation and caring for our surrounds, and what it means to swim at the beach, freely and without prejudice.
Among the gum trees
🎶🌿 Give me a home among the gum trees with lots of plum trees… 🎶 {Home Among the Gum Trees}
Cityscape, countryside or by the water, you can give me a Home Among the Gum Trees any day.
Its iconic status is often regarded as our national identity to many across the globe with many a myth emanating from it. Our Australian bush has evoked themes of struggle and survival in tales of bushrangers, drovers, outback women and lost generations. And yet in contrast, is seen a source of nourishment and survival…for many who live off the land.
Being Australian isn’t about where you come from, the religion you follow or the cultural beliefs that determine your life path. When you break it all down, it’s about this very country, the land we live on and the place we so proudly call home. So become one with the land as our indigenous ancestors have done. Respect it. Nurture it. Learn to understand it.
Explore the bushland with your little ones and really connect with all it offers, for it is the only thing we all as Australians — uniquely — share in common.
It is “our inheritance, our sustenance and the only force ubiquitous and powerful enough to craft a truly Australian people.” Author and ecologist Tim Flannery at his 2002 Australia Day address.
As you wander through the bushland, encourage your little ones to look up and around. What native food can you find? Collect feathers, sticks stones and any other nature treasures along your walk and then take the time to look at each of them. What makes them different? The same? Unique? Yet they all exist together in harmony…
Laugh, Kookaburra, Laugh
🎶🌿 Merry, merry King of the bush is he…” 🎶 {Kookaburra Song}
When was the last time you had a good ol’ belly laugh with your little ones? Where the giggles were flowing hard and fast, and where catching your breath was the first step to succumbing to the laughter from within. Ignore the distractions, forget the excuses and just be there with them. Be present in the day and create memories in the most simplest way you know how — by giving them your undivided attention.
Click, click, click.
🎶🌿Click go the shears boys, click, click, click.” 🎶 {Click go the shears}
Do your children even know the lyrics to this song or what it actually means? Better yet, do you? In a world where everyone is connected to a constant flow of information yet completely disconnected from our history, Australia Day is not another excuse to play video games or watch movies.
In fact, forget the iPad. Walk away from the computer. Even set your phones to silent or better yet turn them off. Our little ones have fast become caught up in the age of technology where many don’t really know much about this country they live in. Do they know the meaning of Australia Day and what it represents? Or what it meant to work hard in the heat of the summer sun before computers even existed?
Use today to prompt a conversation with your children about what it means to live in Australia and the freedoms we are so fortunate to have. Explore cultural diversity and why it is that so many seek refuge here. The essence of hard work and why we pride ourselves on a nation that is fair. And then remember this conversation the next time you encounter someone who looks a little different to you…
Be proud to travel
🎶🌿And I’m proud to travel this big land, As an Aborigine…”🎶 {Raining on the Rock}
It’s the spiritual centre of our country, yet we take for granted the tourist attractions without really appreciating why they are so significant to indigenous culture and those who were first here more than 40,000 years ago. Whether it’s Raining on the Rock or under the heat of a blistering sun, the essence of being an Australian is not about eating lamingtons or liking vegemite on toast. It’s about honouring the traditional custodians of this land, its spirits and the Dreamtime.
We like to think we have inherited this land from aboriginal people, but we were not the first to live here. They were. And that should not ever be forgotten. Take the time today, on Australia Day, to acknowledge the traditional owners of your country and pay your respects to those past and present.
Australia Day is not about skin colour but rather honouring our country’s ancestral roots and embracing each other with no judgement and no prejudice…