A Speech That People Of Australia Will Never Forget

Celebrating the launch of the "International of the World's Indigenous People" in 1992, Keating addresses the "White-Australians" failure in recognising the injustices embedded within Australia's colonial past. Keating highlights the plight of Indigenous Australians through the use of highly evocative alliteration "devastation and demoralisation" to expose White-Australian's "failure". This reflects his condemnation of the "Great Australia Silence" proposed by Professor Stanner 1968, underpinning the prevailing social inequity that has been subdued and unrecognised by many Australians, compelling his intended and the future audience to revalue their preconceived understanding of Australia's colonial past. Furthermore, He skilfully employs logos to reinforce his argument in "the Report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody showed… past lives on inequality, racism and injustice", emphasising the social disadvantage faced by the ATSI community. Through the use of cumulative listing, "inequality, racism and injustice", Keating accentuates the importance of learning and recognising our past injustice to catalyse social progression towards reconciliation, constructing a sense of pathos that emotionally prompts the audience to sympathise with Aboriginal

Only in recent years have we seen the recognition that the stolen generation deserves and the essential part it has play in the struggle of Aboriginal rights. Since the end of the stolen generation, numerous organisations and government agency has come out and said sorry for what happened for seventy years and as a result Aboriginal rights are becoming more apparent. The famous “I’m sorry” speech said by Kevin Rudd was the first Parliament apology to the Stolen Generation and was seen as a huge leap forward in the recognition of the Stolen Generation. The Bringing Them Home Report in 1997 was a strong campaign for The

Reconciliation comes at a much deeper and emotional level. Both parties must meet at an agreement. The

Kevin Rudd’s apology was to the Aboriginals; but in particular, to the Stolen Generations. From 1909-1969, the Australian Government forced a policy know as assimilation upon the Aboriginals. Assimilation is the forced integration of minority groups onto the dominant society. Inhumane acts were inflicted upon these proud people because of the ‘Aborigines Protection Board’ which entailed that the Australian Government had full rights to forcibly remove half-caste children from Aboriginal care without parental consent nor a court order.

Reconciliation has been a somewhat popular issue in Canadian academia and in Canadian society in general. Reconciliation in the Canadian context is defined as a restoration of the relationship between the Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous people due to the historical injustices, that continue to affect Indigenous peoples even to this day, committed by the Government of Canada against the Indigenous peoples. This is a massive undertaking that will require the participation of both Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous peoples alike. A project of this magnitude will not be an easy task to accomplish, as undoing over 100 years of trauma to the Indigenous peoples is not something that can be undone over night, but rather it will take decades to accomplish. There will be many obstacles in the path of reconciliation that will have to be overcome. However, reconciliation is the best opportunity to repair the relationships between the Indigenous peoples and the non-Indigenous peoples because it makes sense for all Canadians to be involved, the Government of Canada is backing the reconciliation process and some work to repair the relationship has already been done and has beneficial results for everyone.

The efficacy and implementation of the Northern Territory Intervention has received wide spread criticism due to the lack of prior consultation with the Indigenous Community leaders as well as the questionable reforms subsequently implemented. Amongst these reforms were the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) (Korff, J, 2016) and forceful leasing of Indigenous land to the commonwealth as documented in The Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act, 2007 (Cth). The Northern Territory Intervention consequently has had numerous negative impacts on the community, “The intervention has had consequences that will have repercussions for generations” (Dodson, 2016)

The goals and visions behind my reconciliation action plan was to bring the two sides of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians together in equality and harmony. Since the colonisation of Australia there has been a vast divide between the two sides that has caused many serious outcomes for Aboriginal people. My way of contributing to this is to create a better understanding, restore trust and eradicate racism as a positive way to help close the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australia’s.

I would like to begin this speech by recognising the owners of this land, the true ancestors of the country we call ‘ours’. To the Indigenous peoples of Australia, I acknowledge you, I thank you and most of all I apologise to you for the deep suffering and remorse you are put through. I am ashamed of this country’s treatment towards you. Past and Present.

Terra Nullius was once apparent in Australian society, but has now been nullified with the turn of the century. With the political changes in our society, and the apology to Indigenous Australians, society is now witnessing an increase in aboriginals gaining a voice in today’s society. Described by Pat Dodson (2006) as a seminal moment in Australia’s history, Rudd’s apology was expressed in the true spirit of reconciliation opening a new chapter in the history of Australia. Considerable debate has arisen within society as to whether aboriginals have a right to land that is of cultural significance and whether current land owners will be able to keep their land.

This article gives the reader an inequitable view of Indigenous Australians, defending Tony Abbot’s point of view and the audience is encouraged to agree with mainstream media in regards to whether or not Tony Abbott is racist. Article B from the Koori Mail condemns Tony Abbott’s viewpoint as not only racist but he is insulting the very culture that he is representing. Article B states that Tony Abbott does not understand Indigenous culture and how important land is to them “Connection to country is everything to Aboriginal people – defines Aboriginal people and sustains us in a cultural and spiritual sense and can play a vital role in building economic independence, self-determination and healing” (Greg Cromelin, Article B). With Article B the audience is encouraged to get angry at Tony Abbott’s comments and make him out to be racist.

Reconciliation is the process of building respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the wider Australian community. It is about understanding and respecting their culture and heritage and signifies ‘coming together’ to become one nation without racism and with equality for all. There are still vast differences in health, education, employment, and standards of living of the Indigenous peoples as compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. Even today Indigenous peoples have a significantly lower life expectancy, up to 11.5 years for men and 9.7 years for women . The infant mortality rate for the Indigenous peoples is double the rate for non-Aboriginal Australians. Understanding these inequalities is the first step to reconciling the differences. Policies such as the stolen generation and assimilation policy destroyed Indigenous identity and culture and justified the dispossession of Indigenous people and the removal of Indigenous children from their parents. We can’t change the past but we can make a better future by understanding and learning from the mistakes of the past, reconciliation is about that. Many practical and symbolic strategies have been implemented over the last 50 years to achieve reconciliation such as ATSIC, Northern Territory Intervention and the Mabo decision. However, the most significant ones are the 1967 Referendum, Closing the Gap framework in 2008 and the ‘Sorry speech’. The aim is to improve the five dimensions of reconciliation: race relations, equality and equity, institutional integrity, unity, and historical acceptance.

Speeches are an iconic and widely used means of expression for our political leaders, particularly when discussing issues of importance such as Indigenous Australia. Paul Keating’s ‘Redfern Speech’ and Kevin Rudd’s ‘Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples’ are the two political speeches which I will be analysing in this paper.

The short term responses to the apology speech were very positive, and the speech gave hope to both cultures that reconciliation was coming. The co-chairman of Reconciliation Australia Mick Dodson’s response to the apology is as follows: “I am inspired by this apology as an act of true reconciliation towards Indigenous Australia.” The executive director of community advocacy organisation GetUp stated “When Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the words 'I am sorry' a wave of emotion and a process of healing began across the nation.” This shows that people of many different races in Australia saw the apology as a sign of hope for the nation, and that the two races were hoping to come together as one. The sign of hope given by the apology had a great impact on the way people viewed Aboriginal people in Australia.

Reconciliation is forgiveness and moving forward together. It is also a neutral healing due to the wounds from the both sides. As well, it is admitting and acknowledging the past and moving forward together as a way of restoring the friendly relations. In the film, Dakota 38, they stated their purpose of reconciliation which was to be in peace with one another. The example of reconciliation is noticeable when non-Aboriginal people invite them over and help them along their journey.

Reconciliation is sacrament which is a religious ceremony or act of the Christian Church that is an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual divine grace. In the Bible, Reconciliation involves a change in the relationship between God and man or man and man. For reconciliation to happen, there is an assumption that there was a breakage of one of the relationships that now wants to be mended. Like what was said before, reconciliation can come to be between God and man or between man and man. However, what most people do not know is that there is a difference in how these two relationships can be reconciled and that is defined as horizontal and vertical reconciliation.