Oodgeroo Noonuccal's An Appeal

Robert Drewe’s 1996 novel The Drowner is, among other things, a representation of Western Australian lifestyle, culture and identity in the late 19th century. At the time, Australia was still a young nation; an “underdog” among Western countries. However, numerous gold rushes brought wealth and prosperity to the nation, attracting millions of immigrants from mainly European countries. Australia’s national identity developed into one centred around the values of hard work, perseverance and mateship—values which are still central to our identity today.

He continues on passionately and fades into a proud tone as he explains that Australia Day is a day to celebrate the country’s unique diversity, and multicultural nation. Through his use of inclusive language such as ‘we’ and ‘our’, Roberts-Smith is able to create a sense of inclusion for the reader and makes them realise that they should be celebrating their country’s unique diversity. Coupling this with the reinforcement from facts and statistics such as ’65 percent of Aussies marked the day in some way last year’ and ‘16,000 new Aussies chose Australia Day of all days to become Australia Citizens’, shows the reader the amount of pride the people in Australia have for their country. It is clear that Roberts-Smith is passionate about his point of view and arguments similar to Russell who is equally passionate about his arguments and point of view. In which each writers passion assists them in making their individual pieces more succinct and

Ribbons (2011) is a free verse poem by ali cobby eckermann that effectively illustrates the thematic concern of having a dual national identity and being part of aboriginal - australian culture. The poet accomplishes this by a soulful tale, leaving behind the people she knew best and expressing herself being “tied” to the land forever, outlining her lifelong spiritual bond with the land and its people. eckermann reveals that a firm bond is established between her and the land wherever she may be through poetic devices and techniques such as poetic structuring, repetition, symbolism, and characterisation. Characterisation of the children as being young “anangu” is shown in stanza 1 of ribbons. Anangu, the defining term for australian aborigine is reflected in the children identifying their national identity as being part of australian and aboriginal culture.

During World War 2 (1939 – 1945), Australia had a variety of impacts on both its government and its people. The war had a great effect on the place of indigenous people in Australia as indigenous men and women joined services throughout the country. The Aboriginal Australians, both the men and the women had contributed in the second Great War. Meanwhile, when the Aboriginals of Australia had jobs during World War 2, Australia’s economy boomed with the help of the war as many Australian troops had gone out to fight for the British. The economy had boomed during the period of the Second World War as Australian products could be produced as well.

How does the discourse of whiteness impact upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ educational outcomes? Due to the white hegemony in modern society even as it continues to change, one thing that remains constant is the representation of ‘normal’ is being white. It is this hidden discourse of whiteness in society which remains invisible, yet, represents unearned power through sustained dominance and unware beneficiary of privilege. The universalisation and normalisation of whiteness as the representation of humanity is enshrined and conveyed in our curricula, television, films, museums, songs, novels, visual arts and other material culture (Moreton-Robinson, 2004). This blindness to whiteness subjects our Aboriginal and Torres Strait

You tell me, and I won’t put it down on the form, No-one will know but you and me”. It’s obvious that the author, Thomas King, is trying to make awareness about the treatment of Aboriginals are facing in

The poem My Mother The Land by Phill Moncrieff poetically describes the struggles the aboriginal people faced at the hands of the European people and colonisation throughout history. The fact that the author based the poem on accurate historical events adds to the authenticity of representations and engages the reader in an emotional journey with the struggles the aboriginal people faced with the somewhat loss of their country, culture, identity, people and place. The author uses a variety of language features and text structures to create this view point, for instance the author uses several language features and text structures throughout verse one to demonstrate the loss of culture and people. The poet uses effective language features throughout the poem to describe the loss that the narrator feels in their country, culture, identity, people

This change in the 1960’s led to a change in Australian identity and the idea of a white Australia. One literary text that reflects the issues and challenges faced in the 1960’s is Michael Gow’s play, Away. Dealing with the challenges of this time, Away focuses on the lives of three different families and the idea of reconciliation and self-discovery. Through themes, language and characterisation Away challenges ideas

While repeating the ‘Australian Dream’ to exhibit its irony and fallacy. Included was the demonisation of pop cultural figures, among them Charles Dickens, which alienates the audiences views, and asks them to question previously assumed realities. Talking from a voice of authority Grant distinguishes his aboriginal heritage and outlines his inherited past, one full of violence and injustice. Heavy use of hand gestures and passionate vocal tones, reinforced by strong eye contact and a lack of reliance on notes.

This article discusses the speech given by an Indigenous journalist, Stan Grant who participated in a debate where he spoke for the motion “Racism is destroying the Australian Dream’’. Hence, the main points of this article are mostly evidence given by Grant in his debate to support his idea that the Australian Dream is indeed rooted in racism. 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.

No matter what changes are made, as long as their skin colour isn’t pure white, they will never be regarded as “Australian”. This puts stress on the requirement for migrants to completely dispose of their own identity for an “Australian” identity. The fact that the protagonist claims that he or she has provided the migrants with equality is also ironic. “Learn English to Distinguish ESL from RSL”, the utilisation of assonance and internal rhyme

The poems Land by Jack Davis, The Developers by W. Les Russell, and Municipal Gum by Oodgeroo Noonuccal all explore themes of invasion and displacement and express how white man has stripped the Indigenous Australian people of their identities. This is because the land is their identity and by invading, the Europeans have taken this away from them and in modern-day Westerners still do not understand the deep connection the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have with the land and the fallacy committed by stealing it. Firstly, the main subject matter in Land, The Developers, and Municipal Gum is the way in which the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) identify strongly with land. The land is their identity.

Deadly Unna by Phillip Gwynne explores racial issues directed at the Indigenous Australians. Gwynne’s story is based on events that occurred in the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. This book clearly shows that Australia is not the land of the fair go for certain demographics, while other demographics do experience Australia as the land of the fair go. People who have money will experience Australia as the land of the fair go, but the people who do not will not be able to experience Australia as a land of equal opportunity. Indigenous Australians are also included in the demographic of people who cannot experience Australia as the land of the fair go.

The poem “Australia’s Silenced History” was written by Nola Gregory from Western Australia in November 2016 as a response to a powerful and provoking video called “Stan Grant talking about racism and the Great Australian Dream.” The poem was written so that our nation would not forget that Australia has a dark past. The subject of the poem is Australia’s dark history and how it impacted many people. The theme is the importance of respecting and acknowledging our history so it can be dealt with. The subject matter of the poem Australia’s Silenced History is about the shameful history of Australia.

Australia is known as a country of freedom and fairness, however many groups such as youth, the unemployed, aged, and ethnic groups tend to become marginalised because of their minority status. Certain groups are marginalised because they are perceived as being different or undeserving of equality in society. This is called stereotyping and it leads to prejudice and discrimination. This essay explores three marginalised groups and discusses some of the reasons why they are marginalised and the effects on those within these groups. Exclusion from areas such as employment and other services and opportunities that other Australian 's take for granted, is a result of the marginality of indigenous Australian 's, woman, and those with