1. Waltzing Matilda – Australia‘s unofficial national anthem – was not a political song but simply a «ditty» to impress an outback beauty, an historian has claimed.

2. He declined to discuss his captors, saying the ordeal was too traumatic.‘‘ Clearly elated at being back in Australia, he entered the news conference shouting Waltzing Matilda,‘‘ the title of Australia‘s unofficial national song.

3. Repeated renditions of ‘Waltzing Matilda‘ were not entirely original – but, hey, Australians can do self–parody pretty well when the sun is out and the amber liquid is flowing – certainly made Hewitt feel more at home than the Belgian.

4. Dispute: Andrew ‘Banjo‘ Patterson wrote Waltzing Matilda to impress a girl, it is claimed However, Mr Forrest‘s claim will be unpopular with many Australians who revere the song so much that it has its own museum in its state of origin, Queensland.

5. The National Library of Australia even describes the ballad as «embodying the free spirit, resourcefulness and defiance of authority associated with the Australian national character.» But Mr Forrest said: «We were unable to find any support in the evidence for the proposition that Waltzing Matilda is an allegory of the shearer‘s strike or an anthem for a free and socialist Australia. «We‘re afraid to have to tell people that that‘s a nice romantic idea but unfortunately there just aren‘t any facts to back it up. «He was, I think, engaged in a flirtation with Christina Macpherson at the time…and as part of that flirtation he wrote this little ditty to simply to show he could do it.» Share this article: What is this?