¡Australia!

whatever random thoughts I have about this bloody country

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TONY ABBOTT U CⱯNT

Local Sydney legend Danny Lim is (in)famous for his fun sandwich board messages where he calls Tony Abbott (and other PMs) ‘c∀nts’ (also his epic facial hair). He was fined in 2015 for offensive conduct, although a GoFundMe page raised the $500 in only 56 minutes. His challenge in the Local Court failed, but his appeal to the District Court overturned his conviction, as such a play on words is acceptable as freedom of political communication. Judge Andrew Scotting suggested that the word “cunt” is not always offensive and is “now more prevalent in everyday language”, particularly in Australia, when it’s not being used for its “literal significance”. He also pointed out that even Shakespeare used a pun of “cunt” in ‘Hamlet’.

So I guess you c∀n’t say that you c∀n’t say c∀nt

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One powerful rendition of ‘I Am Australian’ was by the spectators in the public gallery at the House of Representatives following the legalisation of same-sex marriage in 2017.

I would suggest watching the whole video, but the singing begins at 1:19, and even some of the pollies join in (including Tanya Plibersek and Bill Shorten at the front).

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Opinions on “I Am Australian”

"I Am Australian" really should become our national anthem. It solves the problem with the lyrics of "Advance Australia Fair" by celebrating that "We are one, but we are many", rather than "We are one and free" (the recent replacement to "We are young and free", which was even more problematic). We may be united as one country, but what makes us strong as a nation is our diversity and celebration of difference. Singing "We are one" on its own really reeks of Australia's past policies of assimilation (and Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, but that's a post for another time). "I Am Australian", on the other hand, really does celebrate how we Australians come from all different backgrounds and experiences, but somehow we simultaneously, almost paradoxically, become one and many, a proud collective of diverse individuals working together to support our nation. Also, it's a great song in general. And there are so many historical and cultural references!!!

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“I Am Australian” - The Seekers

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More about ‘My Country’

‘My Country' was written by Dorothea Mackellar while she was homesick in England. During a conversation, Mackellar's friend complained about the beautiful things that Australia lacked compared to England (which is summed up in the first stanza) to which Mackellar responded by describing all of Australia’s natural beauty, which is, well, a lot. 

But also, the diversity of weather events is kinda crazy (God bless farmers 🙏).

It was first published in London in 1908, when she was 19(!), under the title ‘Core of My Heart’, before being circulated around Australian newspapers. 

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The love of field and coppice, Of green and shaded lanes, Of ordered woods and gardens Is running in your veins. Strong love of grey-blue distance, Brown streams and soft dim skies I know but cannot share it, My love is otherwise. I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror – The wide brown land for me! A stark white ring-barked forest All tragic to the moon, The sapphire-misted mountains, The hot gold hush of noon. Green tangle of the brushes, Where lithe lianas coil, And orchids deck the tree-tops And ferns the warm dark soil. Core of my heart, my country! Her pitiless blue sky, When sick at heart, around us, We see the cattle die – But then the grey clouds gather, And we can bless again The drumming of an army, The steady, soaking rain. Core of my heart, my country! Land of the Rainbow Gold, For flood and fire and famine, She pays us back threefold – Over the thirsty paddocks, Watch, after many days, The filmy veil of greenness That thickens as we gaze. An opal-hearted country, A wilful, lavish land – All you who have not loved her, You will not understand – Though Earth holds many splendours, Wherever I may die, I know to what brown country My homing thoughts will fly.

Dorothea Mackellar, ‘My Country’