How Does Keating Make A Redfern Speech

The most important thing in a speech is the message. An unfading idea is what makes the difference between a good speech and one that is significant. A speech centred on a broad and powerful message is one that is able to endure through the test of time and still resonate with its audience; and is a speech truly worth regarding as significant and valuable. This is why Paul Keating's 'Redfern Speech' given in 1992 , and the speech "It is Still Winter at Home" by William Deane given in 1999 are both considered as significant speeches even after all this time. The speakers draw on themes of humanity, loss and the Australian Identity that stretch beyond their own context, and are able to emphasise their message through rhetorical devices that

tie the speech together and supplement their textual integrity.
A broad speech that can find meaning beyond the limits is its own context is one worth regarding as valuable and significant.

The 'Redfern Speech' was delivered in 1992, at the peak of social tension between the Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. The Mabo case questioned the issue of landownership, and the discrimination against Indigenous Australians was still ignored by the wider society. Keating used inclusive language such as "the land we live in","our country" and the use of the idiom of "the land of the fair go" in order to unite his audience audience and evoke patriotism in the shared identity as Australians - a point all of his audience can still connect to today. Keating also drew on the common idea of humanity through the prompting of empathy as he asked the rhetorical question "how would I feel if this were done to me?" when mentioning injustices commited against the Aboriginals. Keating was able to speak beyond that day in 1992 at Redfern Park, drawing on national identity and humanity to connect to his audience regardless of the change in context.Deane also needed to unite his audience, but had to look beyond Australia to keep the positive relation between Australia and Switzerland. The Governor General delivered his speech at a memorial service for the greatest loss of young Australians overseas at the time; and was to represent

Australia as a nation in mourning this tragic loss, whilst recognising its international significance. To capture the importance of the event, Deane imparts effect to all Australians; the losses "deeply affects our nation as a whole and all of its people." And also connects his audience of both the original context and contemporary context by drawing on the theme of pain in loss through his literary allusion to John Donne's poem 'No man is an island.' Acknowledging that anyone's death deminishes us all is a connection to the audience that can be made beyond the limits of his own context and into our own. Both Keating and Deane delivered speeches that carried their ideas past their immediate audience, and supplemented with the understanding of the context we can appreciate their expanding significance and value.
It is also important for a significant and valuable speech to be persuasive, and use rhetorical devices to convince any responder to take on board its idea.

Keating's blunt and logical speech eliminates any scepticism from his audience, and strengthens textual integrity of his timeless message through repetition, emphasis and truncated sentencing. Keating repeats several truncated lines throughout his speech, first series of repeated lines are honest in diction, vivid in violent imagery and straight forward: "We took the traditional lands...", "we brought the dieseases...", "We commited the murders," and so on. This rhythmic emphasis is one that is able to force the audience to see that his message needs no embellishment. It is just honesty and acknowledgment of the past injustices. The next series he repeats "Imagine our selves dispossessed of land...", "Imagine if ours was the oldest culture in the world..." and so on. Both the first series that tugs on logos and the second series that propts pathos are example of how any audience can be persuaded by Keating's powerful use of rhetoric.In contrast, Deane connects with his immediate and wider audience in a way that respectfully and rightfully mournes the tragic losses - though his use of symbolism, euphemism and emotive language. His exhordium appropriately recognises the losses as "profound tragedy" that everyone feels a "great sadness" towards. Although seemingly a hyperbole to the contemporary audience, Deane conveys

this tragedy as "a loss to humanity" with his previously mentioned literary allusion. Though we may have not experienced the effects of this particular event; though Deane's skillful use of language we can resonate with the idea that "It is still winter at home." This symbolism embodies the cold and grevious heart that we carry in the face of death - a motif that supplements the textual integrity and strengthens the message of pain felt in loss. It is clear that although these speeches have different aims, both speakers are fluent in their use of rhetorical devices which influence their responders to see its value and significance.
A speech diminishes in significance and value once it is stagnant in its original context. Whereas Keating and Deane presented speeches still powerful and valuable today as it was in its own context. Their messages tie their audience through the shared need to stand against injustice and pain felt in loss, presented through the mastery of retric thats still resonate with the contemporary audience.