Out of a forest of eucalypt, from the trunk of a mighty tree-
through axe and adze the sweat and the blood, that's how I came to be me.
To shelter a settler's family, I was born long before your time-
I know every heartache and tear that fell, the laughter each song and each rhyme.

I fought back fires with my sturdy walls, while my children were safe within-
I caught the water for you to drink, from my roof made of galvanised tin.
From my porch you sat and looked at the sky and dreamed with the stars so bright-
I guarded you well, as you slept in my womb, kept snug from the chill of the night.

I was your comfort in hellfire droughts and I helped bear your hunger and pain-
I smiled on you as you danced around, in the tumbling, welcoming rain.
You sat in my kitchen and made plans again, to re-crop and re-stock the farm-
held hands in the yard and smiled back at me, you knew you were safe from harm.

You whitewashed my walls, which gave me relief, again from the blistering sun-
you built a new chimney, mended my roof, before the new birth had begun.
You played you clapped, you sang and you danced, to many a rollicking tune-
I shone so bright on that joyous night, in the light of the harvest moon.

As years rolled on I saw famine and feast, the First and Second World War-
families grew and families left, but times, they were not as before.
Homes like me were dozed to the ground, not a thing from the past had they learnt-
synthetics and laminex being the craze, we were pushed into piles and burnt.

But, I am your past and your life blood too, I've been abused time and again-
shearing sheds, theatres, hotels and homes, burnt down for insurance gain.
It has smeared my heritage, broken my heart, for each senseless and selfish deed-
for those who gave me such misery, my heart continues to bleed.

Prosperity saw me deteriorate, I was dying and left all alone-
unhappy, uncared for and lonely, I was cold as a creek-bed stone.
A pound for a pound for wool they earned, but never a cent spent on me-
I thought that I'd be disposed of as well, become ash from a dead old tree.

One day, I thought that my life was done, but was picked up and taken to town-
erected once more, in Remembrance Park, I was made the jewel in the crown.
Nervous at first, it's hard to explain, but I thank you for choosing this site-
the tears poured down on this welcoming ground, were shed for joy and delight.

Those of you here who welcome me home, have given me strength once again-
I'm loved and cared for as never before and it eases most of the pain.
You cook, you sew, you work and you weave, plant flowers to make me smile-
you visit and touch me, walk through my doors and sit with me once in awhile.

Do not forget to see me again, and I wait for your safe return-
although I am happy and loved once more, for your visits I'll always yearn.
Call on my family around this great land, and then we will feel we belong-
we're your past, your strength and your guiding light, your voice, your heart and your song.