Yeti, I think there were (at least) two points being made by Quinninup: that the national anthem in the local indigenous language before the rugby was great (which it was), and that it’s disrespectful for players to only halfheartedly sing the national anthem, which I personally think is incorrect. My points were addressing the latter, and the flawed comparison between the two.
I’m not advocating for disrespecting the anthem, I just don’t think anything short of full-throated singing counts as disrespect.
Advance Australia Fair sucks. It’s a bad song melodically, lyrically and it was written for a white Australia that doesn’t really exist (and probably never did). It sounded good in another language, but for the record, the part in the language of the Eora Nation wasn’t the National Anthem, because while Advance Australia Fair can be performed in another language,
Government protocols on the anthem require that it should not be represented as a version of the Australian National Anthem unless it’s sung in English.
Speaking of English, check out one of the original verses:
When gallant Cook from Albion sailed,
To trace wide oceans o'er,
True British courage bore him on,
Til he landed on our shore.
Then here he raised Old England's flag,
The standard of the brave;
"With all her faults we love her still"
"Britannia rules the wave.
Stirring stuff, if you’re British. Obviously you can whack a coat of new lyrics, or a new language over the top, but it’s the same stodgy British song underneath. There are plenty of reasons to dislike the anthem – I enjoyed
Briggs’ take – and for the most part I consider it something to be endured rather than enjoyed. I quite like it on ANZAC Day or the Grand Final, but that’s more about the occasion and the noise that follows. The Perth Wildcats play the bloody thing before every game, which I hope never makes it to the AFL.
Hopefully in my lifetime someone will change the anthem to something inclusive, stirring and Australian. In the meantime while it’s played I’ll stand quietly and politely, and if I was a player I’d do the same. If one of my indigenous teammates didn’t want to stand, I would sit to support them. I don’t think any of that is disrespectful.
