{"id":430321,"date":"2026-01-22T16:37:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T16:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/430321\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T16:37:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T16:37:12","slug":"men-at-work-star-colin-hay-demands-march-for-australia-stop-using-iconic-song-down-under-at-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/430321\/","title":{"rendered":"Men at Work star Colin Hay demands March For Australia stop using iconic song Down Under at events"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of Australia\u2019s biggest music stars has called out the use of his band\u2019s most iconic song<\/a> to \u201csow xenophobia\u201d within Australia.<\/p>\n

Men at Work band member and lead vocalist Colin Hay has shared a scathing message on social media<\/a>, expressing his disapproval of the \u201cunauthorized\u201d and \u201cunlicensed\u201d use of the song Down Under at any March for Australia events.<\/p>\n

The anti-mass immigration movement had reportedly used the song, which contains the line \u201cI come from a land down under\u201d, at some of their events.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cLet me say that I most strenuously disapprove of any unauthorized, unlicensed use of Down Under, for any \u2018March For Australia\u2019 events,\u201d Hay said on Instagram.<\/p>\n

\u201cDown Under, a song I co-wrote, does not belong to those who attempt to sow xenophobia within the fabric of our great land, our great people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hay said the 1980s global hit song is one of \u201ccelebration\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s for pluralism and inclusion; unity, not division,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo write your own song, leave mine alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hay signed off the message: \u201cColin Hay (immigrant)\u201c.<\/p>\n

Born in Scotland, Hay immigrated to Australia with his family at 14. He is married to Peruvian-born musician Cecilia No\u00ebl.<\/p>\n

The iconic song was released in 1981 and became a much-loved anthem, with Men at Work even playing the song at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games<\/a> in Sydney.<\/p>\n

Supporters voiced their agreement with Hay\u2019s message on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis song conveys a simple message, but there are still people who don\u2019t understand it,\u201d one said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the same, we should not spread xenophobia, it should not be a thing. Because after all, we are all immigrants,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of Australia\u2019s biggest music stars has called out the use of his band\u2019s most iconic song to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134,9281,136,44,84,1314,105],"class_list":["post-430321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-immigration","tag-music","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-social-media","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}