Former Men at Work frontman, who was born in Scotland and emigrated to Australia, tells anti-immigration protestors, ‘Go write your own song, leave mine alone’ Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email Former Men at Work frontman Colin Hay has disavowed the use of the band’s 80s anthem Down Under by Australian anti-immigration protesters, saying the song “does not belong to those who attempt to sow xenophobia”. In a post to his Facebook and Instagram accounts, the singer-songwriter singled out anti-immigration group Australia" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="14794" data-entity-type="organization">March for Australia, who have organised marches around the country on 26 January under the slogan “Our national identity will not be erased”. Sign up for our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...
SRCThe Guardian - World News
LANGEN
LEANCenter-Left
WORDS124
ENT5
THU · 2026-01-22 · 00:59 GMTBRIEF NSR-2026-0122-9511
NSR-2026-0122-9511News Report·EN·Political Strategy
Colin Hay ‘strenuously disapproves’ use of Down Under at March for Australia rallies
Colin Hay, former frontman of the band Men at Work, has publicly denounced the use of their 1980s hit song "Down Under" by anti-immigration protesters in Australia. Hay, a Scottish-born Australian immigrant, specifically called out the group March for Australia, who are organizing rallies on January 26th under the slogan "Our national identity will not be erased." He stated that the song "does not belong to those who attempt to sow xenophobia." Hay communicated his disapproval through posts on his Facebook and Instagram accounts, urging the group to create their own anthem instead.
Dee JeffersonThe Guardian - World NewsFiled 2026-01-22 · 00:59 GMTLean · Center-LeftRead · 1 min
The Guardian - World NewsFIG 01
Reading time
1min
Word count
124words
Sources cited
1cited
Entities identified
5entities
Quality score
100%
§ 01
Briefing Summary
AI-generatedNEWSAR · AI
Colin Hay, former frontman of the band Men at Work, has publicly denounced the use of their 1980s hit song "Down Under" by anti-immigration protesters in Australia. Hay, a Scottish-born Australian immigrant, specifically called out the group March for Australia, who are organizing rallies on January 26th under the slogan "Our national identity will not be erased." He stated that the song "does not belong to those who attempt to sow xenophobia." Hay communicated his disapproval through posts on his Facebook and Instagram accounts, urging the group to create their own anthem instead. His statement aims to distance the song from any association with anti-immigration sentiments.
Confidence 0.85Sources 1Claims 5Entities 5
§ 02
Article analysis
Model · rule-basedFraming
Political Strategy
Human Rights
Tone
Measured
AI-assessed
CalmNeutralAlarmist
Factuality
0.80 / 1.00
Factual
LowHigh
Sources cited
1
Limited
FewMany
§ 03
Key claims
5 extracted01
March for Australia's slogan is “Our national identity will not be erased”.
factualArticle body
Confidence
1.00
02
March for Australia organised marches on 26 January.
factualArticle body
Confidence
1.00
03
The song “does not belong to those who attempt to sow xenophobia”.
quoteColin Hay
Confidence
1.00
04
Colin Hay disavowed the use of Down Under by Australian anti-immigration protesters.
factualArticle body
Confidence
1.00
05
Colin Hay 'strenuously disapproves' use of Down Under at March for Australia rallies.
factualArticle Title
Confidence
1.00
§ 04
Full report
1 min read · 124 words§ 05
Entities
5 identifiedKey playerOppositionContextPositiveNeutralNegative
Organizations3
§ 06
Keywords & salience
8 termsanti-immigration
0.90
colin hay
0.80
down under
0.80
men at work
0.70
march for australia
0.70
xenophobia
0.60
national identity
0.60
protest
0.50
§ 07
Topic connections
Interactive graph Network visualization showing 51 related topics
View Full Graph Person Organization Location Event|Click node to navigate|Edge numbers = shared articles