Redfern Park Speech
Encyclopedia
The Redfern Park Speech was made on 10 December 1992 by the Prime Minister of Australia
, Paul Keating
at Redfern Park in Redfern, New South Wales
. The speech dealt with the challenges faced by Indigenous Australians
.
The speech was written by Don Watson
, then a speech-writer for Paul Keating.
On 10 December 1992 Keating gave a speech on Aboriginal reconciliation addressing issues faced by indigenous Australians such as their land and children being taken away. This speech became known as The Redfern Address. It was given in Redfern Park to a crowd of predominantly indigenous people. Although it was not given a lot of media attention at the time it is now regarded by many to be one of the greatest Australian speeches. Keating was the first Australian prime minister to publicly acknowledge to Indigenous Australians that European settlers were responsible for the difficulties Australian Aboriginal communities continued to face: ‘We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practiced discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice’.
speech (number one) and Jesus'
Sermon on the Mount
(number two).
In 2008, parts of the speech were sampled for use in a track by GetUp!
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
, Paul Keating
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...
at Redfern Park in Redfern, New South Wales
Redfern, New South Wales
Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Redfern is 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney...
. The speech dealt with the challenges faced by Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
.
The speech was written by Don Watson
Don Watson
Don Watson is an Australian author and public speaker.-Biography:Watson grew up on a farm in Gippsland, took his undergraduate degree at La Trobe University and a Ph.D at Monash University and was for ten years an academic historian. He wrote three books on Australian history before turning his...
, then a speech-writer for Paul Keating.
On 10 December 1992 Keating gave a speech on Aboriginal reconciliation addressing issues faced by indigenous Australians such as their land and children being taken away. This speech became known as The Redfern Address. It was given in Redfern Park to a crowd of predominantly indigenous people. Although it was not given a lot of media attention at the time it is now regarded by many to be one of the greatest Australian speeches. Keating was the first Australian prime minister to publicly acknowledge to Indigenous Australians that European settlers were responsible for the difficulties Australian Aboriginal communities continued to face: ‘We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practiced discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice’.
Legacy
In 2007, ABC Radio National listeners voted the speech as their third most "unforgettable speech" behind Martin Luther King's I have a dreamI Have a Dream
"I Have a Dream" is a 17-minute public speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963, in which he called for racial equality and an end to discrimination...
speech (number one) and Jesus'
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
Sermon on the Mount
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew...
(number two).
In 2008, parts of the speech were sampled for use in a track by GetUp!
External links
- Text of Speech at WikisourceWikisourceWikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, it has...
- Sound recording of the speech at the National Archives of AustraliaNational Archives of AustraliaThe National Archives of Australia is a body established by the Government of Australia for the purpose of preserving Commonwealth Government records. It is an Executive Agency of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and reports to the Cabinet Secretary, Senator Joe Ludwig.The national...
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Social Justice Reports 1994-2009 and Native Title Reports 1994-2009 for more information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs
- Watch a recording of the Redfern Address on australianscreen online
- The Redfern Address was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia Registry in 2010