PM Transcripts

PRESS STATEMENT NO. 229
18 April 1974
AUSTRALIA'S NATIONAL ANTHEM
" Advance Australia Fair" will be played as the Australian
National Anthem at this year's official Anzac Day ceremony in Canberra.
The Prime Minister announced this in Canberra today.
Mr. Whitlam said he had asked the Minister for Defence to
instruct the Armed Services to play " Advance Australia Fair" on all
appropriate occasions. He had also written to other Ministers
asking them to give similar instructions to all departments and
Government bodies for which they were responsible.
These arrangements were being made following the National
Anthem poll conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The results of the poll, which he announced in Parliament on 8
April, clearly indicated that a majorityT of Australians wanted
" Advance Australia Fair'as the National Anthem.
Mr. Whitlam said the poll result accurately reflected
the will of the people. Opinion polls had shown for many years
that an increasing majority of Australians as many as 80 per centwanted
a distinctive Australian anthem to replace " God Save The
Queen". He had promised such an anthem during the last election
campaign. The survey by the Bureau of Statistics was the most
thorough and exhaustive ever conducted. The sam--le was 30 times
as large as the average private opinion poll. Mr. Whitlam said
the enormous response to last year's national anthem competition,
for which more than 1,200 entries were received, showed the depth
of public feeling on this issue. Australia now had a distinctive
and familiar anthem with strong traditional associations.
He stressed that the survey related only to the music
of " Advance Australia Fair". i Words for the tune existed but they
were not regarded as part of the official anthem. The Government
had always taken the view that it was the music that mattered.
Mr. WhitJlam. said he hoped that at all Anzac Day
ceremonies, the opportunity would be taken throughout Australia
to play " Advance Australia Fair" in recognition of the people's
wishes. He added that on occasions when the Queen was present,
or when it was especially important to acknowlege our links with the
Queen as Queen of Australia and Head of the Commonwealth, "' God Save
The Queen" would be Played as well as the National 1\ nthem.