Back in the olden days, the only way for a colonial Australian to get recognition was to go "Home" (ie. to the land of the forebears) to the United Kingdom.

The concept of Home (always capitalized) lingered well into the 20th century. When I met my father's cousins in the mid 80s they asked me if I'd been Home (I said I'd never been to Britain!) They were born in the 20s & only the granddaughters of Irish & Scottish women, but Home was still Home. There's a very famous illustration from a mid-19th century publication (Flower from Home or similar title) showing women & strong men weeping over a flowering pot plant that had survived the 12,000 mile trip.

Australia was a little pond, & very inferior to Britain to many Australians - the Cultural Cringe was another long-lived concept.

Over the same period many other Australians, often of Irish origin, held different opinions. Lawson wasn't an Anglophile, but was lamenting the fact that writers could only get success if they left Australia.

It's a powerful poem & great song.

sandra