Teachers at a Brisbane primary school have disciplined a 9-year-old girl for refusing to stand for the national anthem during assembly.
Harper said she felt annoyed that the school was punishing her. Photo: AFP
"When it says 'we are young' it completely disregards the Indigenous Australians who were here before us for over 50,000 years," she said.
"When it was originally written, Advance Australia Fair meant advance the white people of Australia."
Harper told ABC Brisbane she felt annoyed the school was punishing her for expressing her beliefs.
The Year 4 student said the decision to take a stand was made "mostly" by herself but the subject had been discussed with her parents.
Her father Mark Nielsen, who is an Associate Professor at the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland, said he completely supported his daughter and her views.
"She's shown incredible bravery in wanting to stick to what she believes in and make a stance for something she believes right and I couldn't be more proud of her for wanting to do this," he said.
"They have said that she has to stand or she has to leave the assembly area," he said.
Associate Professor Nielsen said forcing his daughter to go against her stance "doesn't fit" what she was trying to achieve.
"One of the things she was really hoping to do with this is to raise awareness and get people thinking about institutionalised racism and how that looks and how that might feel to people who these kinds of things affect," he said.
In response to criticism of his daughter's actions, Associate Professor Nielsen said it was important to give everyone the opportunity to stand up for things they believed in.
"This is not someone just saying they don't want to go to math class."
Harper's mother, Yvette Miller, is an Associate Professor in Public Health at Queensland University of Technology.
Brisbane Aboriginal community elder Sam Watson said Harper's parents should be congratulated.
"They've obviously raised a very bright and vivacious young woman and this one is going to grow up and do big things in her life," Mr Watson said.
Mr Watson praised the student, calling her "wise and courageous" for rightfully pointing out the nation is not young and free.
"Here's a young girl who could have simply mouthed the words … but she pointed out that she didn't believe in the lyrics, she didn't accept the contradiction, so she's going to make a statement in her own way so I say congratulations to that young girl," Mr Watson said.
"I've got much more confidence in this nation in 10 to 15 to 20 years' time when you have young people like that coming through."
Talkback callers on ABC Radio Brisbane had mixed opinions, with some calling it "flat-out disrespect", while others said freedom of expression should be encouraged in children.
However, in a video posted on Facebook, Senator Pauline Hanson rejected the 9-year-old's views, saying "here we have a kid being brainwashed".
"I tell you what - I'd give her a kick up the backside," Senator Hanson said.
"We're talking about a child who has no idea about history - what we should do and what we need to do to pull everyone together, regardless of their cultural background - we are all Australians.
"This kid is headed down the wrong path, and I blame the parents for it for encouraging this - no, take her out of the school."
School response
In a statement, a spokesperson for Queensland's Department of Education said it had met with the student and family involved to discuss the issue.
"The school has been respectful of the student's wishes and has provided other alternatives to singing the national anthem," the spokesperson said.
"State schools set out clear standards of behaviour that they expect from their students in their Responsible Behaviour Plan for Students."
The school said if any parents had concerns, they were encouraged to contact the principal.
