Not sure about you, but every now and then I still find myself quietly contemplating our national anthem change, often interchanging them—
Young and free… or one and free?
I was thinking about that this week — because both those two words capture something important about who we are, and who we’re choosing to be as a people and Nation.
Young and free speaks to our aspirations— what our forefathers wanted Australia to be. A nation still willing to build, to try, to welcome, and to believe the future can be better than the past. Young in nationhood, free in conscience—and accountable for how we live that freedom.
One and free speaks to something deeper — holding together despite difference. That freedom only endures when we are united by shared values, mutual responsibility, and a willingness to celebrate and reconcile together.
Perhaps the reason so many Australians instinctively sing both is because we know, at some level, that they belong together.
Freedom without shared purpose and values becomes fragile.
We have seen how fragile it is in recent months.
But when a nation is both one and free, it can confidently face its history honestly, the strength to protect what is good, and the resolve to pass on something worth inheriting.
As Australia Day approaches, this tension — and this hope — feels more relevant than ever.
That distinction matters, because Australia Day has increasingly become a moment when our national conversation pulls in opposite directions.
I fondly remember Australia Day celebrations were one of the best things when we immigrated from South Africa. They were opportunities where our entire church would gather to connect, pray and celebrate— and people would bring their national food, share stories and reiterate how grateful we were to call this home.
There were flags everywhere, real excitement. Plans always involved BBQ, beach and fireworks! (And of course the $3 Aussie flag flip flops and face tattoos were a staple from Woolies or Red Dot. A throwback to 2007)
Yet now, instead of reflecting on what holds us together, we are encouraged to choose sides, rehearse grievances, or view our shared story through a single lens. Yet most Australians do not live their lives that way.
The failed Voice Referendum highlighted that a mature nation can truly acknowledge past wrongs honestly, while still celebrating what has been built, protected, and passed on. We WANT to be ONE.
Australia has never been perfect — no Nation is.
But it was shaped from the outset by ideas that made freedom possible: the dignity of the individual, responsibility to community, equality before the law, and the belief that authority must be exercised with restraint.
They were carried into public life by a Christian moral framework that assumed people were capable of self-government, and that freedom worked best when it was anchored to truth and God’s guiding word.
From the earliest days of the colony, Churches were more than places of worship. They were centres of education, welfare, reconciliation, and social order.
Faith shaped the rhythms of public life and helped establish a shared moral compass that allowed people of different backgrounds to live together freely.
That foundation explains why Australia developed as a thriving Nation where rights were paired with duties, and freedom was balanced by responsibility.
We don’t deny the injustices that occurred, nor excuse them. Our strength and best progress comes when Australians choose unity over division.
Reconciliation involves acknowledgement but it’s also about moving forward and giving the next generation something solid to stand on. In fact this is often echoed as I travel across Western Australia, we need to give our young people something to aspire to – we need to give them a hope and a future.
This is why celebrating Australia Day still matters.
God is still working with and through us in this great South land and it’s a beautiful reminder of what we are capable of when we choose to be both one and free.
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