ANY AUSTRALIANS ?!?! help w/ their national anthem...?

Question

ok..hello australians :) or..anyone else that may know the answer to my question. ok...so.....does anybody know WHY THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM WAS WRITTEN?!!? please nothing EXTREMELY long....its for my music class...im in 7th grade...thanks so much ! :D

Answer 1

WHY was it written ?

Because people in the emerging proud Australia needed anthems that represent Australians, not songs about the old country.

It was adopted as the national anthem when it became just too ridiculous to hold on to a national anthem that goes on about some remote monarch on the other side of the world, with lyrics that have nothing to do with Australia.

Answer 2

Advance Australia Fair was composed by Peter Dodds McCormick under the pen-name 'Amicus' (which means 'friend' in Latin), in the late 19th century, and first performed by Andrew Fairfax at a Highland Society function in Sydney on 30 November 1878. The song quickly gained popularity and an amended version was sung by a choir of 10,000 at the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. In 1907 the Australian Government awarded McCormick £100 for his composition.

Before its adoption as Australia's national anthem, Advance Australia Fair saw considerable use elsewhere. For example, Australia's national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Commission, used it to announce its news bulletins until 1952. It was also frequently played at the start or end of official functions.

In 1973 the Whitlam government decided that the country needed an anthem that could represent Australia with "distinction" and started a competition to find one. The Australia Council for the Arts organised the contest which was dubbed the Australian National Anthem Quest. The contest was held in two stages, the first seeking lyrics and the second music, each having an AUD $5,000 prize for the winning entry. On the recommendation of the Council for the Arts, none of the new entries were felt worthy enough, so the contest ended with the suggestions for Advance Australia Fair, Waltzing Matilda and Song of Australia.

Advance Australia Fair emerged as the most popular choice for the national anthem after an opinion poll in 1974 (the Australian Bureau of Statistics polled 60,000 people nationally). A spokesman for the Prime Minister Gough Whitlam stated that the Government regarded the tune primarily as the national anthem.

At the same time as the 1977 referendum, a national plebiscite was held to choose the National Song. Advance Australia Fair received 43.29% of the vote, defeating the three alternatives: Waltzing Matilda (28.28%), Song of Australia (9.65%), and the existing national anthem God Save the Queen (18.78%).

Advance Australia Fair was adopted as the national anthem (the 1st and 3rd verses, with modified lyrics) on 19 April 1984 by a decision of the Labor government of Bob Hawke and a proclamation by the Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen.

Sorry it's so long. But you can sum it all all up in a shorter rendition.

Answer 3

Go to this website and it will give you all the answers you require.

www.dfat.gov.au/facts/nat_anthem.html