Sophia Markham Speech for NSW state final

Sophia Markham is heading to Sydney to compete in the NSW plain english competition. Video Heath Forsyth

Transcript

00:00be optimistic enough right now to see an Australia where culture, pride and harmony can exist

00:06simultaneously without compromise or sacrifice. That's why I believe that now more than ever has

00:13been chosen as a theme for Reconciliation Week in 2024. Perhaps it was because 9.5 million Australians

00:21couldn't quite grasp the institutional challenges faced by First Nations Australians.

00:26Perhaps it was chosen after Mental Health Hotline 13 Yarn saw 108% increase in callers during the

00:33referendum period. But in my heart I hope it's for all the Koori 12 year olds sitting in a classroom

00:40just like this being told the word Aboriginal is all that can define them. So with this in mind

00:48we know that reconciliation is important now more than ever. But why at this point in time?

00:54We've come a long way since the 1967 referendum. We've ended six decades of the forced removal of

01:00First Nations youth and we're slowly gaining land rights. But I can't help but consider

01:06Steve Green's Racism is Destroying the Australian Dream. For me the concept of the Australian Dream

01:13was previously only thrown around as an exhibitionist turn by media sources

01:18and it was the first time I've been forced to consider what the Australian Dream meant to me.