"For we are one and free" Australia changes word in National Anthem

On new year eve, Australia has changed one word in its national anthem to reflect  “the spirit of unity” and the country’s Indigenous population. Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison announced that the second line of the anthem, Advance Australia Fair, has been changed from For we are young and free to For we are one and free. The change comes less than two months after New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian expressed support for Indigenous Australians who said the national anthem did not reflect them and their history.

He said that while Australia as a modern nation may be relatively young, the country’s story is ancient, as are the stories of the many First Nations peoples whose stewardship Australia rightly acknowledges and respects. Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt, who is also the first Indigenous Australian elected to the federal Parliament’s lower house, has given his support to the change. He said that the one-word change was small in nature but significant in purpose. “It is an acknowledgement that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures date back 65,000 years,” he said.