Noel Pearson's Last Speech

INTRO: So, what is a republic? A republic is a democratic nation in which the highest public office is held not by a monarch, who inherits the position by birth, but instead by a citizen chosen on merit. Australia is a monarchy because it was colonised by the British in 1788. With them, they brought their lifestyles, culture and system of government. This type of government has remained up to this day.

The issue of not changing Australia day can be very sensitive to indigenous people The date suggestion of moving Australia day to another date is 1st of January, 25th of April (Anzac day) or the 1st of September (wattle day). The solution that Smith proposed was January 26th is a date that’s orientated towards when we gained our independence from British rule or perhaps a date bases on when Mathew Flinders when he first used the word ‘Australia’. The intended audience of this article is everyday Australian multi-cultural Australians. Smith focuses most of his attention trying to persuade people to change 26th of January (Australia day) to change it to First Fleet Day instead. In this article the truth is January 26 should be first fleet day, not Australia day by Smith in the

As patriotic Australians we pride ourselves to be a nation that accepts and respects the beliefs of all cultures, but on this historical day majority of Australians tend to forget the true meaning behind the celebration. If you ask today’s society, what they did this Australia day mass numbers would respond with “binged on alcohol” and “indulged in a barbecue.” Consequently, this day cannot be called a national celebration when some of our fellow Australians are grieving while others are out celebrating an occasion they know little about. Giving due regard to the indigenous people and their mostly negative perspective on this issue should be a priority. A new date, not the 26th of January should be established, as rather than unite, it seems to divide Australians into different viewpoints.

Australia’s experiences of World War II were significant for Australia and impacted on the shaping of our national identity. Australia 's response to entry into World War II in 1939 differed from Australia 's entry into World War I in 1914. Reasons for this includes attitudes towards war changing after gaining the knowledge and experiencing consequences of World War I, the conditions and lead up to World War II as well as Australia’s strong support for Britain. Firstly, the attitude of Australians changed due to World War 3I proving that war was not glamourous or exciting like it was assumed. During the lead up to World War II Australians had already struggled to survive through the depression and were now required to survive at war. Finally, by 1939, Australians were questioning the validity to support and defend the 'Mother Country ' at all costs. These are just three of the World War II experiences that helped shape the nation.

Reconciliation is the action of making one view or belief compatible with another according to the Oxford dictionary of English. The term reconciliation was used as a symbolic gesture in an address made on February 13th 2008 by the former Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd. Kevin Rudd was the first political figure to speak out and seek reconciliation for the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders after being elected as prime minster in 2007. He spoke out after many generations of mistreated Indigenous Australians that had their rights and equality continuously ignored, but after all that has happened, including the effect of broken families, which still in 2018 have the aftermath of "The stolen generation", there was only one public apology and no compensation for the damages caused to the native people of this country. There has been no dramatic improvement to improve their health, housing, education and employment. The unfair treatment of indigenous people 's rights got to a point where assimilation policies were in practice of forcefully disposing the aboriginal identity and culture including the removal of aboriginal children that we know today as the stolen generation as seen in the quote by A.O Neville,

We must be the architects of this new Australia, built again with egalitarianism as its foundation and equality, justice and acceptance as its cornerstones. Envision, if you will, an Australia where all Indigenous cultures, communities and people are respected, recognised and revered. An Australia where Indigenous Australians are finally equal. A truly egalitarian Australia. It is my hope that we can be united in the pursuit of this future. United by the desire for justice and equality for Indigenous Australians. United by the desire to one day proudly proclaim to all our

Australia Day is one of the most unique national day’s in the world throughout history, celebrating the day of when our ancestors first arrived on the borders of Australia, in 1788. Rather than unite people as one whole though, the spirited outcome of this event isn’t what as anticipated by everyone and has divided the Australian society for good. And so it should be held at an alternative date, where Australian citizens feel worthy of their identity and not cheated by it. However, the celebration shouldn’t be adapted to like that of other commemorations like ANZAC day. Essentially, this day will always be a tragic memory for the indigenous and be viewed as the invasion of their homeland. Also, while it’s significant to note the ‘foundation day’ of Australia, many people say that there were many other good memories made after that that are just as or if not more important. Finally, ANZAC Day is often thought of a replacement but shouldn’t

One of the main points is that the indigenous Australians are often excluded and disregarded as non-Australians simply due to their race and skin colour. Grant pointed out the incident where AFL player Adam Goodes was publicly jeered and told that he did not belong to his country as he was not an Australian despite the fact that Australia indeed is the land of his ancestors. The constant booing and jeering of the crowds were what Stan Grant referred to as ‘’howls of humiliation’’. It was an unmistakable act of shaming and discrimination towards indigenous people; it was an implication that they are not meant to be a part of the great Australian Dream.

Ah Australia. The land of opportunity. The land of freedom and equality. The land of wealth and good health. The lucky country.

The Ngunnawal People have been living within the borders and surrounding mountains of the Australian Capital Territory for over 25,000 years. The way the Indigenous people used the land to live off was extremely efficient and sustainable. They had a bounty of knowledge about the land surrounding them, and over generations, devised resourced management skills to ensure maintenance of the animals and plants, and most importantly, the land in which provided these things. Aboriginal culture existed long before Captain Cook arrived in Australia in 1770. He claimed the land to be "Terra-Nullius", meaning that the land did not belong to any person. This claim obviously seemed ludicrous and crazy to the Indigenous people whom already lived on the land.

After Paul Keating left office and the 25th Prime minister being John Howard openly declined to apologise to the stolen generations and to, accepting the ‘Brining Them Home Report’, he strongly believed that it wasn’t his responsibility to apologise for something that he did not do but the past Prime Ministers did. On the 13th of February 2008 our 26th Prime minister being Kevin Rudd took it upon himself to take responsibility for what the past Prime ministers did to those of the stolen generations, for the lives that were damaged and for those who are still suffering from

For Pearson, allusions to the Redfern Speech alongside clever implementation of inclusive language facilitate the notion that Indigenous issues are a concern for the nation as a whole. This is evident through the usage of ‘our nation’ and the actions that ‘we’ have to take to correct the injustices of the past, which has the effect of reconciling the divide between Indigenous and European Australians; thus unifying the nation. Atwood, on the other hand, employs pathos through personal anecdotes and humour in order to establish a relationship with her audience. This provides her textual integrity, as it resonates with her audience on a personal level. The humorous personal anecdote of her daughter’s breakfast play allows Atwood to reinforce her argument that in order to ignite interest in literature “something else has to happen”, assisting her audience to emotionally identify with her perspective. While pathos aids Pearson 's calls for reconciliation as he explores the challenges in resolving complications between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, it provides Atwood the ability to illustrate the need for multifaceted female characters in an attempt to rectify past

Authorities from state and territory parliaments apologised for the actions made. On May 28th , 1997, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Dean Brown sincerely quotes, “ I move: that the South Australian Parliament expresses its deep and sincere regret at the forced separation of Aboriginal children from families and homes, which occurred prior to 1964”, before continuing to say that the apologies are to “ support for reconciliation between all Australians.” This demonstrates on behalf of South Australians, Dean Brown apologises and expresses their deep and sincere regret of the actions taken that effected the Stolen Generations and families. He advises the obligations and responsibilities of the government to legislate with equality and compassion, in order to reconcile all individuals in Australia. Thus, the Bringing Them Home report had impacted the civil rights movement in Australia, as it bought the states to comprehend what they did wrong and the desire to reconcile all

Aboriginal Australian peoples have been placed in unfair situations that have resulted in disconnections from society due to bias in culture, racism and because of previous historical events such as colonisation that led to colonialism and horrible events such as The Stolen Generation. These events act like a scar to the Aboriginal Australian peoples and their culture, those previously mentioned historical events symbolises the cut, the immense pain that was caused in that moment is still a factor and the pain from it is still prevalent and is symbolised by the scar. The scar also represents the factors that still manage to affect the Aboriginal Australians today, such as racism and lack of quality and access to education, money and health care.. The Indigenous peoples are also affected by various other factors such as limited access to health care that may be of poor quality, such resources may also bring fear to the Indigenous peoples because practitioners are not always sensitive or respectful to

Throughout Australia’s post settlement history a blind eye, or rather more of a blindfold, has been turned by ordinary Australia’s towards the indigenous population. The original inhabitants of this country have suffered through the injustices of being dislocated from their own land, not just when the ‘invaders’