Analysis Of The Documentary Cronulla Riots

In Kevin Rudd’s 17th of February 2008 speech, the Australian Prime Minister apologises to the Indigenous Australians for the stolen generations. With this speech, Rudd attempted to ease the disadvantage that affects most Indigenous Australians by pledging that the government would improve their health, education, living conditions and their lifestyle overall. Rudd claims that he is apologetic and remorseful for the treatment the past Indigenous Australians received. He strengthens his speech by using several language techniques to convince the audience that Australia is remorseful for the past events and wishes to amend. the techniques he used include such as his choice of vocabulary and references to time to mention the historical struggle

In a world surrounded by media, people are reliant on truthful and honest information to form accurate conceptions of current events and issues. Australia is a self-proclaimed multicultural country who aims to achieve equality and equity. However, through the analysis of the comparative text between, Stan Grant’s ‘The Australian Dream’ and Pauline Hanson’s, “Maiden Speech” it is clear that the truth is juxtaposed with the reality of the present Australia, who is still a country with racism and inequality. Despite two people stating the arguing issue, there are different perceptions of truth of who is the most vulnerable. In which Grant places great significance on the racism rooted in the Australian Dream and Hanson’s stance for non-Indigenous people inequality.

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?

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.

For my first event I took a friend to a movie night hosted by the Notre Dame Student Association and students from the Aboriginal People unit. They organised a free viewing a movie by John Pilger called Utopia and a follow up survey. This extraordinary film gives a deep insight into the First Australians struggles of harsh dispossession and the ongoing deaths and poverty. Pilger puts the hard word on many members of the Australian government who are responsible for many deaths, explorations, betrayals and breaches to Aboriginal peoples human rights. This film was very moving and had a great impact on myself who had already studied a lot of this content but seeing it again in a different way opened my eyes even more to the sadness and grief suffered by Aboriginal people due to discrimination and lack of justice. As for my friend she was greatly saddened and shocked by what she has seen. Coming from a very English background she expressed feeling somewhat guilty about what had happened and how disappointed she was in the Australian government on this matter. The movie inspired a lengthy conversation about the importance of righting past wrongs for Aboriginal people and spreading awareness to her family and friends. It was also interesting to discover that when moving to Australian from England in 2010 that she had noticed a great deal of racism towards

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

‘Jasper Jones’ challenges the idea that Australia is a mature nation and suggests that it can’t be with issues like racism still present, while ‘Jindabyne’ challenges the idea of everything is fine in Australia regarding racism, when really these issues are still prevalent. The issue of racism causes both Jasper and Susan to be represented very similarly in both texts, Jasper being positioned to be seen as lonely and Susan being represented as helpless, they are both without support due to the issue of racism. This shows the effects that racism can have on individuals in society, they become singled out without any help or support. Both texts have been successful challenging the ideas of the audience in relation to the treatment of

0n the 11th of December 2010 tensions grew between two communities. What started out as a brawl fight between two teenage groups with different views ended with a deadly set of attacks destroying the social cohesion of our country. These attacks were the acts of cowards and the Australian public shouldn’t in any way be supportive of something that completely disagrees with the safety of our people. Were these acts right? Did hundreds of people need to be injured? The answer to both these questions are NO. So how did this event that stunned the nation start? Well the cronulla riots weren’t planned and meetings weren’t held for it, however a text message outlining the hatred felt towards the Lebanese community was sent. The message contained phrases such as “lets show these wogs this is our beach and they aren’t welcome

Over the past 230 years, Aboriginals have protested in many different ways to gain rights, which they believe they are deserving of. Through aims of what they wanted to achieve, the processes they went through brought them disappointment over the poor results of some actions and pleasure over the success of others. Over those years, very few periods of protest have been as revelational or effective as the protests occurring between 1938 and 1972. During this period many different groups of Aboriginals have fought for the common cause of being recognised as people rather than interferences caught in the midst of Australians expansion as a nation.

During the ongoing visits on ‘The Freedom Rides’ around the many towns like Bowraville, Boggabilla and Moree, the students had observed the kind of segregation and refusal of service the Aboriginal people faced in places like pools, clubs and shops. In reference to the image in source 3, the itinerary showed the expected dates for stops, demonstrations and surveys and when they would return back to Sydney which would altogether take place over 2 weeks. The students filmed and filed reports to the ABC of the kind of treatment and racism Aboriginal people received, for instance their living conditions and locations which Charlie Perkins in source 4 describes as ‘at river banks, shanties, huts or at the end of a road where there’s (a) rubbish tip’. The main reason of their filming was to show people the truth on what was happening in country towns and to not believe what the news covered Australia to be; that racism did not exist. The publicity gained from The Freedom Rides raised awareness of the racism in Australia and influenced the 1967 Referendum and other campaigns in the future with similar purposes.

Aboriginal people did not have access to amenities, such as cinemas, hotels, cafés and swimming pools, and suffered prejudice and suspicion as well as verbal and sometimes physical abuse (**). In the town of Walgett they decided to picket the Walgett Returned Service League Club (RSL) as a protest against the treatment of Aboriginal people. The media covered the Walgett RSL protest. The central role of the film camera in this campaign demonstrated the growing sophistication of activists who recognized the need to show city dwellers what was happening in country towns. Also captured on tape was the vice-president of the RSL who said he would never allow an Aboriginal to become a member (Curthoys, 2011, 12). Such evidence was beamed into the living rooms of Australians with the evening news and exposed an endemic racism. This film footage shocked city viewers and added to the mounting pressure on the government.

The Eureka stockade was a turning point for Australian democracy. It was a rebellion against the police and government and it was a fight for justice. The Eureka stockade is seen by some to be the birthplace of Australian democracy (Evatt, 2010). It was destined to fail, yet it is probably the most widely known rebellion in Australian History. The Rebellion against authority started with unfair taxes and policing, and it resulted in a change in the political stance of people in the middle and lower classes. It is an important part of the development of Australia as a nation, as it demonstrates the values of mateship, determination, persistence and the Aussie ‘Give-it-a-go’ attitude, all of which are key parts of the Australian Identity and culture.

The Cronulla riots began when allegedly a group of men with Middle Eastern backgrounds assaulted or attacked the Cronulla life guards on patrol. In the week following this incident, particularly on the 11th of December Cronulla’s

Furthermore, Keating employs the extended metaphor of “test” to further affirm the cultural devastation as it was “our failure…to ask- how would I feel if this were done to me?” the hypophora which he then answers “As a consequence, we failed to see that what we were doing degraded all of us.” The inclusivity sheds light on reality of the dispossession of Aboriginal people from their land. A factual report “The Report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in custody showed that the past lived on in inequality, racism and injustice.” Appeals to our logos and enables us to reflect on the reality of our “failure” as well as authenticating the speech to give it textual integrity. Keating not only focuses on the mistakes of the “White” but also highlights the good done by Indigenous Australians. “…remind ourselves that Australia once reached

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