Australia Fair Research Paper

Stan Grant, ‘The Australian Dream’ has a more effective illustration of the perception of all Indigenous Australians, that Indigenous people should not be segregated from society due to racism. Grant’s version of the reality is that racism is still continuous despite the perception of multiculturalism and therefore places great emphasis on Australia’s racism towards certain groups and questioning the Australian ideal. This is evident in the lines “But every time we are lured into the light, we are mugged by the darkness of this country’s history.” Through the utilisation of metaphor and juxtaposition, Grant is able to make a strong emphasis that, Australia had tried to erase racism, such as through the apologies and reconciliation made by the people, but are then blinded by the past targeting of Aboriginal people who continue to be disadvantaged in the community today. Through this Grant has effectively stated that the nation covers the truth by providing hope to those most vulnerable but in fact the perception of a multicultural country still contains racism. Furthermore, Grant successfully expresses the fact that the nation overs the truth of racism, through the National Anthem in attempt to erase racism. However no matter what strategies are implemented to hide the truth, the country’s history will always be a reminder of the racism as it has shaped the nation as it is today. “It reminds me that my people, were killed on those plains. We were

Stan Grant’s speech ‘Racism and the Australian Dream’ (2015) effectively reminds the Australian population of the racism and harsh inequalities indigenous Australians have faced in the past and still face today. In reminding us of this reality, Grant engages us to discover issues of civic participation in Aboriginal people and in doing so perpetuates a need for social change. More?

Through the use of poetic devices, the author has successfully encouraged the audience to explore their thoughts on Australian identity and to reflect on our nation’s history.

‘The Australian Dream’ spoken by Stan Grant, has presented his perception on the issue of racism amongst Indigenous Australians, in which their struggles have been covered by the media to enhance Australia’s image of being a multicultural country. Despite Australia being infamous for its idea of a multicultural country, Stan Grant opposes against this and reveals the truth that racism is still continuous. Therefore, proving Stan Grant point that racism allows for the emotional and physical struggle on one’s lives. “But every time we are lured into the light, we are mugged by the darkness of this country’s history.” Through the utilisation of metaphor and juxtaposition, Grant is able to make a strong emphasis that, Australia had tried to erase racism, such as through the apologies and reconciliation made by the people, but are then blinded by the past targeting of Aboriginal people who continue to be

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.

Australia’s identity has always been a complicated one. Starting with Aboriginal genocide, 1800’s cowboys and villains, two world wars and a bunch of poems describing them, it makes it difficult to conclude on what being an ‘Aussie’ really is. Thankfully, the two thought-provoking poems Nobody Calls Me a Wog Anymore by Komninos Zervos, and My Country by Dorothea Mackellar both use their discerning selection of themes to reflect modern attitudes in some extent. Along with their themes, Nobody Calls Me a Wog Anymore and My Country both use their story to capture the attributes modern Australians possess to some degree.

Reconciliation with the Indigenous People of Australia Reconciliation is not only an issue for the indigenous people of Australia, but for every Australian. The a major step in achieving this is for an official apology to be made by the Australian Government to indigenous Australians - especially those of the Stolen Generation. But as with any controversial issue in our society there are many differing views on the matter, in support and not in support of such a move. This essay will briefly outline these arguments subjectively.

Now, in 2017, the protests over Australia Day and the history of the country have escalated to a level first seen here in America. Over a week ago, in Sydney’s Hyde Park, the statute there dedicated to Captain James Hook was vandalized. With what is presumed to be spray paint, “no pride in genocide” and “change the date” were written across the statute. Many members of Australia’s nationalist party have spoken out and held their own protests in response to this “heinous” act. They have spoken out how this act is tarnishing the history of Australia and given the country a bad name as well as spreading the positivity of nationalism. The Prime Minister of Australia, Malcom Turnbull called the act, via Facebook, an act of Stalinism, and that Australians

The article ‘Out anthem sucks and it’s time to get a new one,’ is written by an author called James McCann. In the article, James McCann argues how the Australian anthem should be replaced with another song, meanwhile appealing the anthem as an ancient and an unreasonable one. The article is produced on the 26th of January, 2017. It is an opinion piece. McCann’s tone is mostly comedic as well as insulting. The author uses attacks to persuade the audience to go on the side he was on, meanwhile asking rhetorical questions to get the audience more engaged and to feel more involved.

I n t h e p a s t , Australia has participated in substantial events, poised against other ethnicities, but as Australia’s identity emerges, we discover just how far we’ve come since the White Australia Policy and the Cronulla Riots. However, under closer inspection, we discover the real truth, and that is that we truly haven't moved forward at all, and that realistically we put up the facade of being a multicultural country, but once that mask is removed, Australia is just the same as it was all those many years ago.

The Indigenous people who are alive today survived from centuries of colonialism, and lived with the trauma of a stolen identity. On January 26th every year, Aboriginal people commemorate Australia Day as Invasion day. This is a tradition shaped in 1988 to remember surviving 200years of colonization. The Apology to Australia’s Indigenous People was announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on February 13, 2008 and pledged the government and country to respect their rights to self-determination and accept parliamentary and governmental responsibility for over two centuries of oppressive and discriminatory policies with the ‘Stolen Generations’. The Apology is a remark hinting at the vestige of colonialism.

Within every piece of text is an underlying meaning or personal statement of opinion that each author wishes to express. In the poem “white australia” by there is very much the presence of protest against the way aboriginals were treated and their struggles during the time of white settlement in australia, and also the protest against any race discrimination. “Success” by henry lawson is a poem about the triumph and achievement perceived within australian society about winning war but also highlights the devastation and cost it brought within soldier's lives, insidiously affecting society as a whole. Throughout both selected texts there are techniques and features that help convey a message about australian society and the achievement and struggle that many have faced and still face today, shaping our national identity.

At 9am on February 13 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a speech that people of Australia will never forget. Prime Minister Rudd stood up in front of parliament and apologised to the Indigenous people of Australia, he apologised for laws, policies and mistreatment on the behalf of successive parliaments and governments with particular focus on people affected by the stolen generation (Rudd, 2011). An ideal picture of the future was also painted, where Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are equals, where the gap in “life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity” was finally closed (Rudd, 2011, p.14). To some, this was seen as a positive step in the direction of reconciliation for Australia, however, eight years on, without much progress and no sign of a treaty, one has to ask, was it enough? Firstly, it is important to look at exactly what reconciliation is, and what it means for the people of Australia. It is also important to look at significant events leading up to the apology, and what has happened since. It is also useful to investigate what other countries have done to reconcile with their own Indigenous populations. All of these should give picture of what has happened, why it has happened and what needs to be done to achieve reconciliation.

As Allan Marett (2005) states in his text Songs, Dreamings and Ghosts: ‘there is a great deal of ambivalence within Australian society about the contribution that Aboriginal knowledge and modes of expression can and should make to the national consciousness, ranging from those who embrace Aboriginal ways of being in the world as the key to understanding how to be in Australia, to those who reject them totally as primitive, inimical to development, or simply irrelevant to ‘civilised’ values.’ This description is a seemingly accurate account from both sides of non-Indigenous Australian’s perceptions of Indigenous Australians. John Howard’s eleven year reign as Prime Minister, and his political campaign of ‘Practical Reconciliation’, sheds some understanding on the assimilationist and westernised mindset that some Australian citizens possess (Gunstone, 2010). However, as Australia becomes more multicultural - unless the nation is content with going into a state of ruin - acceptance of diverse cultures must be recognised and

If young Anglo Saxon Australians don't understand the 'national' sentiment of the day, why do we continue with celebrations like Australia Day? One would have thought that a ‘multicultural’ society like Australia would have grown out of nationalism, and instead embraced a more, contemporary cosmopolitan identity. Surely in a globalised, interconnected world, we’re all “citizens of the world”? (Scanlon, the Conversation 2017) Seemingly this is the case for Australia, ideas of the ‘nation’ have changed over time, into what one could call a cosmopolitan national identity. Therefore, the sentiment white, Anglo Saxons tie to Australia day, like Senator Brandis (ABC, 2017) who argued that Australia Day was the point in time which the "modern Australia we now recognise, had its beginning," is indeed, imagined.