Under Southern Stars
Amanda Vanstone’s been in the news a lot lately. First after Howard’s reshuffle, and now because of this new anthem she’s written. I guess the idea is for “Under Southern Stars” to be played in schools after the national anthem, not to replace it; the lyrics seem to represent Australia quite well in any case, even if it is heavy on being a “shining light for freedom”. I’ve always thought of Australia as more of a land of second chances, but hey, that’s me.
I don’t understand why we need a new anthem, though. It would seem more suited if we became a Republic, or wanted to reevaluate our national identity, redesigning the flag and anthem to represent Aboriginal culture. But at the moment neither of those seem very likely, so I can’t see the point. And wouldn’t singing 2 verses of Advance Australia Fair, then “Under Southern Stars” and school anthems take a lot of time out of an assembly? What about learning?
Still, it’ll be interesting to see where the idea goes from here. It could bring the Republic debate back into the open again, in an election year. And there’s a bit of irony that “Under Southern Stars” be written by Vandstone, after the asylum seekers and her having been shifted from the government. Hm, I wonder what Labour would think if they won the election and we became a Republic, but Vandstone’s song became the new anthem…
Dean on 
