Persuasive Speech: Keep The Australian Flag

The Australian flag is well overdue for a change. The current flag is outdated and the Southern Cross and the Union Jack are no longer relevant or unique to Australia. The present Australian flag also fails to be instantly recognisable, confusing foreigners, as it is too similar to many other countries. Yet, for me, the most important reason the flag needs changing is to represent Aboriginal Australia and to encourage Aboriginal Reconciliation, by creating a flag that incorporates Aboriginal elements and our native history. By doing this we would be representing all Australians. Clearly, the Australian flag should be

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

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.

I did this by combining Mackellar’s head with Gilbert’s head to show that they are talking about the same thing, Australia, even if their perspectives are completely different. The line in the middle of the fused face represents a fence, and shows that Kevin Gilbert’s opinion has been caged in and hidden from society, unlike Mackellar’s opinion which has been adopted into our nation’s identity. I also implemented quotes above their heads, representing what each of them thought about Australia. As you can see, Mackellar’s side has a green background, which has connotations to life, growth and harmony. This background colour in conjunction with the native flower I drew helps represent Australia’s identity of natural beauty. In addition to that I drew a gold ingot to show that Australia landscape can be compared jewellery has connotation of wealth and being priceless. Moreover, I drew Australia connected to a heart symbolising Mackellar’s love for Australia. On the other hand I decided to go with a red background on Gilbert’s side, symbolising his hatred and anger at what the European settlers have done to Australia. I also drew images of cut down trees in conjunction with factories, to show the environmental destruction caused by European settlers in Australia as mentioned in

The pursuit for a national day has been a part of an effort to define our unique national identity and a day that defines it. Australia Day is a subject of debate, reflecting the fact that national identity is unsolidified and difficult to delineate. In this essay I will outline the argument that Australia’s national day should reflect both its present day society and history, with the help of articles from ‘The Conversation’, ’Modern Australia’s defining moment came long after the First Fleet’ and ‘Australia Day nationalism walks in the footsteps of ugly precedents.’ Australia day should be completely unrelated to British colonialism and its catastrophic impacts on Aboriginal people and their culture and encompass the multicultural society it is today. More significantly however, it should quite simply be a day that has significant historical relevance for present day

Australia is a young, modern country made up of a diverse and multicultural population, therefore, it’s difficult to say that it has a single national identity. This essay will examine what Australia’s identity may look like, specifically, through art.

"Aboriginal people are a steady beating heart at the centre of our Australian spiritual identity."

There are many diverse interpretations of the words “Australian Identity”. The national anthem, as evidenced in Stand Up, is a primarily white interpretation of Australia and the Australian identity, with many of the lines ignoring the Indigenous people of Australia (Perkins et al, 2012). Another form of the “Australian Identity” was one presented by Prime Minister Paul Keating in his Redfern Address in 1992. He proclaimed that “Australia is a first-rate social democracy…truly the land of the fair go and the better chance”. This idea presented represents an egalitarian society, where every single human has an equal opportunity at life. Yet another, shown in the songs Paul Kelly sang, but especially in “this land is mine” is the difference between the identity of Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians (Kelly et al, 2001). Each of these texts addressed a major issue. Stand Up compared the relative value of tradition and the right to freedom of expression. Keating’s speech expressed the need for justice and recognition of both the stolen generation and the injustices done to the Indigenous people as a whole. Kelly’s songs represent the importance of the land to Indigenous people and why the “returning of the land” is so important. Although they each mentioned a major issue, the texts all gave solutions to these issues, from reiterating the importance of the basic human right of freedom of speech in Stand Up, to explaining the role and qualities of the Aboriginal

In 1984, Peter McCormick’s “Advance Australia Fair” officially became Australia’s national anthem. A song we proudly sing both on Anzac Day and Australia Day, with our hand’s on our heart. Should we be proud to sing a song about absolute lies? “Australians all let us rejoice, For we are young and free”, it took aboriginals over 60 years to be recognized as human beings, let alone Australians, they were anything but free. “For those who’ve come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share”, that whole sentence is a lie, we have stopped the boats, we don't want to share our boundless plains. We lock up our immigrants in Detention Centers, replicating that of cages. All of us here are living a free life and a safe life and for the majority of us, it is our reality and has been since the day we were born. I’m

To be conclusive the austrailian flag should not be changed for a wide variety of reasons such as the wars fought under the flag, the respect other country poses for the flag and the symbolic meaning of the flag. No other flag could project austrailias history like this flag, it is irreplacable as a new flag would eraise a hundered plus years of history. This flag is superior and will continue to depict austrailia as the beautiful country it

The article by Sarrah le Marquand, ‘Apathy wins flag debate’ appears in the tabloid of The Advertiser (February 2, 2013), and online at ‘The Punch: Australia’s best conversation’, under a different title, ‘Flagging This Change is not unAustralian’. This political opinion is to remove the Union Jack from the Australian flag. This is an important topic, as National flag’s construct symbolic meaning, identity and “pride” of country (Fozdar, Spittles & Harlety, 2014, p. 2). As a political writer, Sarrah le Marquand's career has been in the entertainment industry, soap operas, for The Daily Telegraph, for film and as an editor for columnist features’ (News Limited, 2014).

Australia has been shaped through war since soldiers set to the First World War right up until the now with the war in Afghanistan. Aspects that made it controversial ideas from being a colony of Britain and the politics that came with it, development of treaties with other countries, social groups, and family honour.

Over time, the appearance of the flag has changed, but it has always stood for the same principles. Although these principles have been applied differently, they cannot be erased. As long as time stands, the flag will always wave for justice, equality, and freedom. The flag has instilled bravery in America, so that

Australia has always been centered around diversity and change, specifically with the vast multiculturalism and migrant culture throughout the nation. The specifics of Identity hold an important role in shaping our identity as students and as a nation. Australians pride themselves on being a land of the free and full of diverse culture. This is specifically referred to in our national Anthem; “For those who've come across the seas, We've boundless plains to share; With courage let us all combine,”(McCormick, 1984). Displaying Australia’s open attitude towards immigrants and contributes to the diversity present within our society today. Even before this, much of Australia’s Identity was associated with caucasian culture (Originating from British Settlers). Which is the dominant perception of Australia through the media with australian representation being present through the stereotypes of Bogans, which was made popular through shows like Kath and Kim (ABC, 2007). Also, represented through the popular depiction of Australian people - the bushman made popular by movies like Crocodile Dundee (Faiman, 1986) and through famous real life bushman; Steve Irwin. An important aspect of Australian identity which is consistently neglected is the culture and representation of the initial owners of the land; the aboriginal people. Throughout history the constant mistreatment and neglect of the indigenous, has lead to a massive gap in privilege between the aboriginal people and our

A key component of Australian culture today is not only their diversity, but more importantly, the