"Native Born" or "Sleep, Australia, Sleep" by Paul Kelly would be good too. A bit grim perhaps.

When all this is over and done with I look forward to coming back more than I have at any other point while living OS.

I never tire of the Seekers, and just recently I enjoyed a video on their first experiences landing on the music charts.

And not being Australian, I don't have a say on the national anthem, but I am reminded of the Canadians who expressed a wish that Stan Rogers' "Northwest Passage" be made their nation's anthem.

Judy Durham is in her 70s now and we won't have her with us much longer. I met her years ago at the Monsalvat Jazz Festival. Singing jazz was her true love.

Her voice was so pitch-perfect, I still listen in awe at the relaxed way she hits notes without faltering. She is also a genuine, beautiful person.

We in Aus. had the anthem referendum years ago and ended up with the stodgy and disjointed, 'Advance Australia Fair'.

If a popular vote were held today, this song, I think. would prevail.

It is both heartbreaking and life-affirming at once.

And I love hearing that she's as lovely in real life as she is musically.