Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Isabel Reid hopes the change to the Australian anthem will be the start of meaningful change for Aboriginal people.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the lyrics "young and free" will be replaced with "one and free", in part to recognise the thousands of years of Aboriginal custodianship before European colonisation.
"Our anthem is about us, who we are and who we hope to be as well," Mr Morrison said yesterday.
"We're a strong and vibrant liberal democracy. We live in a timeless land of ancient First Nations peoples and we draw together the stories of more than 300 national ancestries and language groups. Our anthem should reflect that."
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Aunty Isabel, who has been named NSW Senior Australian of the Year 2021, welcomed the change as "a good start" and said it was time for all Australians to come together.
"What happened with NAIDOC and the awards and things, maybe we might get a better year in 2021," she said.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said he supported the change and would like to see improved health outcomes and lower incarceration rates for Indigenous people.
The Morrison government has previously ruled out changing the constitution to enshrine an Indigenous "Voice to Parliament", but Mr McCormack said Indigenous affairs minister Ken Wyatt continued to consult with First Nations communities on another model of "effective" representation.