On Those Old Brown Hills By Wonthaggi

On those old brown hills by Wonthaggi 'tis said there once were many trees Where the black tribes lived in the Dreamtime and enjoyed their many Corroborees Till the pioneers came and cut the trees down and the tribal people went to live elsewhere Another word for dispossession but all in life is never fair. On those old brown hills by Wonthaggi where cattle and sheep live today Descendants of the animals the pioneers brought with them from their old home Countries far away Overlooking the Pacific ocean an old man the years had left gray Told me amongst those hills in a lost graveyard the bones of the tribal chiefs lay On those old brown hills by Wonthaggi the spirits of the Bunurong At midnight still dance their Corroborees this Country to their tribe belong They will always be the first Australians and of their lands they took such good care The Country they loved much worse off without them and those old hills are now looking bare. To those old brown hills by Wonthaggi the Seasons and years come and go And I a migrant from the Northlands so little of this Country know The Bunurong the first Race of South Gippsland were those sinned against and oppressed By people of skin colour like mine and my song is for the dispossessed.