Qantas will name one of the planes from its new Dreamliner fleet the Great Southern Land, after the classic Icehouse song.
Qantas invited the public to vote for the names of the planes for the new fleet of 787-9s. 60,000 name suggestions were submitted. 45,000 votes were caste and the shortlist of 24 was given to the general public.
Eight planes have now been named including ‘Great Southern Land’.
“I’d like to thank the people who voted and Qantas for honouring me by naming one of their planes after the song I wrote back in 1981,” Iva Davies said in a statement.
“At the time I was attempting to write a new song about the country we love and wanted a new name and new way of describing it. I was aware that early European explorers described it as the “Great South Land” but I wanted something new, something more streamlined and singable. So I created the phrase “Great Southern Land” which became the signature of the song.
“Over 35 years later I find it remarkable how far that phrase has spread and now it seems set to travel even further.”
The other seven plans will be called Skippy, quokka, boomerang, Waltzing Matilda, The Great Barrier Reef, Dreamtime and Uluru.
NEW ICEHOUSE SHOWS for 2017
Friday, 17 November 2017
Palais Theatre, Melbourne, Vic
Tickets available from 9am, Monday 26 June from
Ticketmaster 136 100 | www.ticketmaster.com.au
Presented by Gold FM104.3
Saturday, 16 December 2017
Enmore Theatre, Enmore, NSW
Tickets available from 9am, Monday 26 June from
Ticketek 132 849 | www.ticketek.com.au
Presented by WS FM101.7
