Union Songs
Which Australia?
A Poem by John Tomlinson©John Tomlinson 2007
Australia I love you for what you could be
land of the fair and the free
we could stand for justice and democracy
as we inspire hope, truth and decency.
From Queensland’s rainforests
to Tassie’s windswept coast
through the Centre’s red heart
over deserts and mountains
to Ningaloo’s coral reefs
you have unsurpassed beauty.
From Woomera’s atomic tests
to Baxter’s detention centres
through brutalising watch-houses
over-allocated water rights
to Centrelink’s imposed obligations
we betray our sense of ourselves.
Australia I love you for what you could be
land of the fair and the free
we could stand for justice and democracy
as we inspire hope, truth and decency.
From a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay
to a sense of noblesse oblige
through pensions for those who can’t work
over-excited children in the playgrounds
to a concern for the underdog
we knew where we were going.
From Worst Choices workplace contracts
to the rat-race of individual exploitation
through cutbacks in social security benefits
over-supervision of the powerless
to the marginalisation of Aborigines
we have lost our moral compass.
Australia I love you for what you could be
land of the fair and the free
we could stand for justice and democracy
as we inspire hope, truth and decency.
Notes
Many thanks to John Tomlinson for permission to add this poem to the Union Songs collection.
Find more of John's work here: John Tomlinson
union songs..........a selection by mark gregory