2021 Needs To Be A Year Of Change For Indigenous People

In a surprising and yet meaningless display of tokenism, on the eve of the new year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a simple change to the Australian National Anthem. A move clearly made with minimal consultation with Indigenous communities (not that you really need to consult anyone, mob have been publishing and screaming their views and reason for years)when he announced that he’d changed the word “young”, to the word “one”.

The move demonstrated how out of touch with Indigenous issues Morrison is. During his announcement, he ignored several other issues around the Australian anthem.

Take the word “free” for example — Indigenous people have some of the highest incarceration rates in the world. This isn’t due to an innately criminal nature, it’s due to hundreds of years of continued genocide, segregation, and racist government policies. Free just doesn’t apply.

Then take the word “fair”, as well.

Recently by Indigenous boxing sensation and somewhat controversial figure Anthony Mundine, tweeted “The core of the anthem is advance Australia white” following Morrison’s announcement.

It is also taken, more commonly, to mean Australia is a “fair” place.

Which one is true?

But what is a national anthem meant to achieve anyway? One definition I found of a national anthem is:

“A national anthem is a patriotic song or musical composition that is either recognised officially by a nation’s government and constitution or is accepted as such by convention through popular use. The national anthem reflects the history, struggles, and traditions of a nation and its people and serves as an expression of national identity.”

Well, when it comes to patriotism, advance Australia fair speaks of Europe very favourably, European immigration, keeping a British soul, raising the British flag, true British courage. But when it comes to anyone else, the lyrics suggest a war will be afoot.

If I am being honest, it feels like Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison penned the song just yesterday.

But if this song truly is about patriotism, or historical struggles, and our national identity, why does it ignore Indigenous people? Is it because at the time, and for some time thereafter, Indigenous people were being massacred, and the idea of genocide was being demonstrated in full force?

Why does it ignore the contributions made by Middle Eastern countries and Asian countries in the development of “Modern Australia”? Is it because only their labour (or should I say grit?) was welcome, and their presence was to be phased out with the introduction of the white Australia policy?

Considering this, it’s pretty clear that the song was written with intention of representing a purely European nation. Which we aren’t. We are a nation that houses the oldest living culture in the world, which was developed through multiculturalism not European ingenuity, and has nothing to do with Britain except when the government spends tax-payer dollars to have a royal visit.

But regardless of how meaningless Morrison’s little brain fart really is, it will still create healthy, and not-so-healthy conversations when the anthem is sung. At least for a few month’s I’d guess.

Shortly after Morrison’s announcement came another tiny change — the renaming of ‘Coon’ cheese.

The intent to change the name was announced last year, to mass hysteria from people who have never experienced racism but are clear experts on it. “I never got offended by that name” they would say, before finishing with “people just need to get over it — it’s just a name” and pressing post on complaint about a name change they claim shouldn’t change because names don’t matter.

Then why are you complaining?

Realistically, if a simple name product change offends you, then if it was called something that was actually offensive to you, you’d be up and about as well. I mean, if I went and Arnott’s and decided to rename Tim Tams ‘survival day biscuits’ — the shit would hit the fan.

Imagine changing the name of vegemite, an Australian classic — to something in an Indigenous language. You bet there would be issues.

Regardless of how much these changes truly mean, small or big, they will hopefully create the conversations needed to help change things, no matter how slowly that happens.

And in the spirit of these two changes, I think that 2021 could be the year of change.

A year where people can reflect on a 2020 that saw everyone having to deal with the affects of a pandemic (and we still are).

Where the murder of George Floyd saw the Black Lives Matter truly resonate with Australia and its own issues regarding police treatment of Aboriginal people and deaths in custody.

Where sporting organisations and fashion magazines stood up to support a grass roots organisations Free the Flag campaign.

A year where half the country lost their jobs and got to experience being on government benefits and realised that it is far from the ideal situation.

A year that has seen the media called out more than I have ever seen before by people who have had no choice but to quarantine inside their homes during lockdown and watch the utter drivel that mainstream media offers up.

This new year, that has followed a 2020 that has seen dozens of lows, but also some hope, can be the year that the country just says, “fuck it, let’s just fuck Australia Day right off”.

I mean, there is just so many arguments about why is should be pissed off completely that it’s becoming hard to keep count.

From the obvious arguments of genocide, massacres, invasion, racism to the not so obvious ones. Reasons like, it isn’t even when the nation of Australia was invented. It’s just when someone plopped a flag in the ground on the east coast. What is known as modern Australia took another hundred years to create. And there’s the fact that the Australian government keeps destroying the country by allowing mining basically everywhere. They’re selling it off to foreign investors. And actually, making an entire joke of Australia Day in the process.

Just like with his anthem change, Morrison has demonstrated that he is uninformed, and un-empathetic, especially when it comes to Indigenous issues. Most recently, stating that “You know, when those 12 ships turned up in Sydney, it wasn’t a particularly flash day for the people on those vessels either”.

Really Scott?

The guy just has no clue. While everyone else is evolving, thinking, changing, Morrison just seems to stay the same.

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