Three weeks on from the failed referendum, I was watching the ABC when that fabulous anthem song came on. But this time the words had a hollow ring – and I realised how much shame I feel about what happened that day, and I choked back tears when a smiling Aboriginal woman put her head on the shoulder of a ‘white’ woman.
And it threw into question ‘acknowledgement of country’ as tokenism, and ‘thanking elders past, present and emerging’ as patronising and paternalistic. And now we have ex-PM Tony Abbott talking about taking down ATSI flags from all ceremonies and public buildings.
I felt good about all those acknowledgements of the original people we share this continent with. Things were changing for the better. And I loved this song, penned in 1987 by Bruce Woodley from The Seekers and Dobe Newton from The Bushwackers. It was the new anthem for a new nation.
But it doesn’t feel the same any more.
I Am Australian
I came from the dreamtime from the dusty red soil plains
I am the ancient heart, the keeper of the flame
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come
For sixty thousand years I’d been the first Australian.
I came upon the prison ship bowed down by iron chains.
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I’m a settler, I’m a farmer's wife on a dry and barren run
A convict, then a free man, I became Australian.
[chorus]
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
I am, you are, we are Australian.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
