God Bless Australia was a proposed 1961 Australian

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

by Australian songwriter

Jack O'Hagan John Francis O'Hagan (29 November 189815 July 1987) was an Australian singer-songwriter and radio personality. Early life O'Hagan was born as John Francis O'Hagan, in Fitzroy, a suburb of Melbourne. He was the son of Pat O'Hagan, a hotelk ...

who provided patriotic lyrics to the traditional tune of ''

Waltzing Matilda "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing ...

''.

Lyrics

Credits: Music by Marie Cowan, Lyrics by

. ''Here in this God given land of ours, Australia''
''This proud possession, our own piece of earth''
''That was built by our fathers, who pioneered our heritage,''
''Here in Australia, the land of our birth.'' REFRAIN ''God bless Australia, Our land Australia,''
''Home of the

Anzac The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

, the strong and the free''
''It's our homeland, our own land,''
''To cherish for eternity,''
''God bless Australia, The land of the free.'' ''Here in Australia, we treasure love and liberty,''
''Our way of life, all for one, one for all''
''We're a peace loving race, but should danger ever threaten us,''
''Let the world know we will answer the call'' REFRAIN (×2)

Corporate sponsorship

The song was given airplay in cinema advertisements in Australia by

Ampol Ampol Limited is an Australian petroleum company headquartered in Sydney, New South Wales. Ampol is the largest transport energy distributor and retailer in Australia, with more than 1,800 Ampol-branded service stations across the country . Amp ...

, an Australian Petrol Company,Roger Clarke's 'Waltzing Matilda'
with a 45rpm record sold by the company. "God Bless Australia" was broadcast in honour of

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

(26 January) in 1968 via various television channels. This version was sung by Neil Williams, backed by an orchestra and chorus, which were recorded at Melbourne's

GTV-9 GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia, owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands. GTV-9 is the home of the Australian Open tennis coverage. History GTV-9 was ...

studios. At that time, O'Hagan dismissed "

Advance Australia Fair "Advance Australia Fair" is the national anthem of Australia. Written by Scottish-born Australian composer Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed as a patriotic song in Australia in 1878. It replaced "God Save the King, God Save th ...

" as a possible national anthem, " tnever developed into a national song. You can't make a national song overnight. It just evolves. That's why holding competitions to find one are not successful." O'Hagan also felt the original words to "Waltzing Matilda" were not suitable for an anthem as being undignified.

STW-9 STW is an Australian television station owned by the Nine Network that is based in Perth, Western Australia. ''STW'' broadcasts from a shared facility transmitter mast located in Carmel. The station callsign, ''STW'', is an acronym of Swan Tel ...

in Perth used this for their sign offs from 1977 until they went 24/7 in 1983.

References

{{authority control 1961 songs Australian songs Australian patriotic songs Songs written by Jack O'Hagan