So now what? When one of our players of aboriginal descent are picked to play for Australia will they refuse to sing the national anthem? Or when an Australian athlete of aboriginal descent competing for Australia in a world event wins a medal will they refuse to sing the anthem on the podium? Whilst I understand that the words "For those who come across the seas" and reference to everything being "young and free" causes some concern among aboriginal people we are still all Australians aren't we? This discussion has probably been blown out of context somewhat bearing in mind some genius decided that we should play the Australian national anthem prior to our Indigenous team competing against a Maori team which in my view was pretty dumb. Personally I have no objection to a few of the words of the anthem being changed slightly so as to remove the reference to those who come across the seas and to being young and free if that resolves the issue (incidentally 26% of Australians were born overseas and 46% have at least one parent born overseas). Whilst we are at it lets get rid of any reference to the "commonwealth". Frankly I don't mind if we associate Australia Day with another date other than the date Captain James Cook's arrival, but we should still unite and celebrate our great country and have an anthem to sing that doesn't offend our aboriginal brethren.
