A push to re-word Australia's national anthem to address concerns raised by Indigenous rugby league players is gaining momentum after a Liberal MP backed the move.
Four Indigenous players are planning not to sing Advance Australia Fair before tonight's State of Origin game in a silent protest.
They say the line "young and free" ignores the country's 60,000-year pre-European Indigenous history.
They've found an unlikely ally in conservative Liberal MP Craig Kelly, who told ABC radio many Australians would support a minor change.
He suggested swapping the word "young" to "strong" could solve the problem.
NSW Blues player Cody Walker (right) won't sing the national anthem because he says it doesn't represent Indigenous people. Source: AAP
"If these gentlemen said [they] would be happy to sing the national anthem with changing that one word, I think a lot of Australians would sit down and they would say, OK let's change that word," he told the ABC.
Sing anthem in Indigenous language
Another option put to the NRL has been to sing the anthem in both English and an Indigenous language as occurred last year during a dedicated Indigenous round.
Labor MP Linda Burney, who served as the chair of the Australian Rugby League Indigenous Council until late last year, has urged the NRL to make it a regular practice.
"Having the anthem sung in English and traditional language is, to me, a really fabulous way through what’s a very thorny issue for some people," Ms Burney told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Linda Burney suggests singing the national anthem in an Indigenous language as well as English. Source: SBS News
NSW's Indigenous players Cody Walker, Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr and Queensland's Will Chambers have declared they will not sing the national anthem on Wednesday night.
It follows a decision taken by the Indigenous All-Stars team to remain silent during the song when they took on the Maori All-Stars in a pre-season game earlier this year.
