was the song "great southern land", about australia as a whole or the southern shire?

Australia as a whole.

Read the lyrics and you'll see

Standing at the limit of an endless ocean

stranded like a runaway, lost at sea

city on a rainy day down in the harbour

watching as the grey clouds shadow the bay

looking everywhere 'cause I had to find you

this is not the way that i remember it here

anyone will tell you its a prisoner island

hidden in the summer for a million years

Great Southern Land, burned you black

so you look into the land and it will tell you a story

story 'bout a journey ended long ago

if you listen to the motion of the wind in the mountains

maybe you can hear them talking like I do

". . they're gonna betray, they're gonna forget you

are you gonna let them take you over this way . ."

Great Southern Land, Great Southern Land

you walk alone like a primitive man

and they make it work with sticks and bones

see their hungry eyes, its a hungry home

I hear the sound of the stranger's voices

I see their hungry eyes, their hungry eyes

Great Southern Land, Great Southern Land

they burned you black, black against the ground

Great Southern Land, in the sleeping sun

you walk alone with the ghost of time

they burned you black, black against the ground

and they make it work with rocks and sand

I hear the sound of the stranger's voices

I see their hungry eyes, their hungry eyes

Great Southern Land, Great Southern Land

you walk alone, like a primitive man

you walk alone with the ghost of time

and they burned you black

yeah, they burned you black

Great Southern Land

///

do you mean

Advance Australia Fair was proclaimed as our national anthem after exhaustive surveys of national opinion. It was first performed on November 31st 1878 in Sydney. In 1974 the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted a national opinion poll of 60,000. January 1976 God Save the Queen was reinstated as the National Anthem. It made Australia the only country to have a choice of four National Anthems. It was decided that God Save the Queen was to be played at all royal and vice-regal occasions and the remaining three, Advance Australia Fair, Waltzing Matilda and Song of Australia could be used on all other occasions. Then in May Australian's went back to the polls and voted that Advance Australia Fair was to be played at all other occasions. This was once again changed in 1984 to allow God Save the Queen to be played only when a Royal family member was present.

It is about Australia. Take a look at the clip on youtube and read the comments. Note the goanna at the beginning of the clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mkidP2OUCk

It was about Australia as a whole.