A new pop song released yesterday samples parts of a historic speech by Australia's prime minister and aims to promote reconciliation with the country's indigenous population.

The remix of the 1990s song From Little Things Big Things Grow borrows lines from Kevin Rudd's February apology to the country's "stolen generations" for 20th-century policies, under which some 100,000 Aboriginal children were taken from their families in a bid to make them grow up like white Australians.

The song was released in digital-only format and is the brainchild of community advocacy organization GetUp.

The musicians performing the song include the original writers Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody, as well as Missy Higgins and hip-hop singer Urthboy.

The updated version also uses parts of former Prime Minister Paul Keating's 1992 speech about reconciliation between the nation and its indigenous population. The speech was voted by Australians last year as one of history's top three most powerful speeches.

The original song was released by Kelly in 1991, and told the story of an eight-year strike by Aboriginal stockmen that raised the issue of land rights to national prominence.

"This version of the song transforms us from a negative concept of the past into a positive concept of the future," Carmody said. "This isn't your mainstream music. This is something that has a historical context."

Federal Arts Minister Peter Garrett, the former frontman for the band Midnight Oil, said the new song was a soundtrack for all Australians.

Agencies

(China Daily 04/22/2008 page11)