Who Am I? (2011)

The following is text to the speech, Who Am I?, which I gave at the 2011 State Semi Finals of the Plain English Speaking Award (Victoria). 


Who am I?
Well I know who I am, and I am not just talking about my address nor my age. I'm talking about my culture, the languages I speak and how they combine to make me. But do you know who you are, and why is language such an important part of this?

Take the indigenous people of Australia for example. They arrived here over 40,000 years ago. Since then, they have spoken more than 750 distinct languages and have created a rich cultural heritage. Today, however, this culture is slipping away. Their celebrations, their religions, their cuisine, their art…these are all disappearing. But how and why is this happening?

As I just said, there were once 750 indigenous languages in Australia; now there are a mere 18. It is no surprise then, that we are seeing a loss of indigenous culture. Without language, there are no means to communicate concepts and ideas, there are no means to teach and learn about culture. The indigenous people could, in theory, use English to replace their own languages, however, English lacks the vocabulary needed to communicate indigenous beliefs, such as those regarding the dreamtime.

Unfortunately, language death, leading to the loss of culture, is not confined to the indigenous languages. Broad Australian English, or “ocker English” has also started to decline in use, which is leading to the loss of some more key aspects of Australian culture.

According to the website www.aussieexperts.com (which is an Australian internet based travel office) the top reason to come to Australia is that Australia has “a people of legendary friendliness”. Furthermore, tourism Australia’s most successful advertisement, which starred comedian and actor Paul Hogan, was not based on our vast and beautiful landscapes, but rather our easy going attitude and our rich vernacular. Viewers are told that the only thing they need to know before coming to Australia is how to say “g’day”.

This simple, and chiefly Australian word is being used less and less in today’s society. We’re replacing “g’day” with British and American equivalents such as “hey” and “sup”. Our slang is what allows us to identify ourselves as Australian and to celebrate this. G’day, among other pearlers such as: well, pearler, no worries, cobba, bugger, sheila, aussie, mozzie, cossie, frothin’ and troppo, is the key to expressing our national identity.

Australian English isn't just for the "working class Aussie". As we know, "we are one, but we are many, and from all the lands on Earth we come". This lyric sums up our nation perfectly. No matter our heritage, no matter our race, no matter the colour of our skin, no matter how much money we earn, we are all Australian. With our slang, we show this. Take the film "Wog Boy" for example. The main characters, who are portrayed by Vince Collosimo and Nick Giannopoulos, both call themselves wogs. They took a term, usually reserved for insults, and turned it into a word to positively express their identity. Whilst the film is full of references to the differences between their childhood and the childhood of a typical anglo-saxon Australian, the film is also chock-a-block with Aussie slang.

"Wog Boy", and the whole concept of wog, is about celebrating both one's European heritage and celebrating being an Australian. It's about celebrating the multiculturalism of this nation. We can enjoy this celebration of identity and the music, festivals, stories and food that comes with it, because of language.

Language is to culture as air is to humans. Without air, we cannot last, without language, culture cannot last. Thus, the preservation of our language, is essential to preserve our culture and to continue to celebrate the rich and diverse identity of Australia.

So the question is, what can we do?
By chucking the odd Australianism into a sentence, by being that friend who speaks to mum on the phone in that "foreign language which nobody understands" and by hearing all of the stories from nan and pop, nonna è nonno, baba i deda or oma und opa, we start to learn about and develop our language and our cultural identity.
It may seem a small and silly idea, but we're a sharing and caring bunch. Our language is made up of some words from mum and dad, some words from our teachers or colleagues and some words from our mates. It’s always changing and is always open to influence.
We need to go back to the basics and bring back Aussie slang and then watch as everyone else follows.
Every culture is worth preserving, so let’s stop beating around the bush, and do something about preserving ours.
So, it’s time we all start asking ourselves, who am I?

Media Gone Nuts (National)

The following is the text of my speech, Media Gone Nuts, that I gave at the national finals of the Plain English Speaking award. 



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There is not a hole in the ozone layer. Despite years of having this idea shoved at us by our media, there is not a hole in the ozone layer.

In reality, what we are experiencing is something called Ozone depletion. We are not as well protected from solar radiation and therefore, the temperature rises. If there were really a hole in the ozone layer, as we have been lead to believe, we would be exposed to the full wrath of the sun. Now, I can only speak for myself, but I’m not on fire—are you?

How has an entire nation been lead to believe something so outrageous? Is it only sensationalised rubbish that we are being fed, or is it worse? When did journalism lose its moral core in the pursuit of money?

This is a somewhat light-hearted example of media gone nuts. The modern media has ditched its moral responsibilities for nothing more than financial gain.

Now, don’t get me wrong. We should expect the media to try to make money. But it is the methods they are using to do so that are worthy of our attention.

Long gone are the days of sensationalism. Back then, it was simple. A bit of dramatization, misinformation and fear mongering lead to a healthy serving of public anxiety, and that public anxiety converted itself into a nice wad of cash in the media moguls’ pockets. Kaching, kaching for the media!

Unfortunately, one day a particular media mogul decided that sensationalism wasn’t quite enough. He decided that to sell his newspaper, he must rely on the truly immoral. His name is Rupert Murdoch and he is the man at the centre of the news of the world scandal.

In most of our pockets is a mobile phone. It’s a fairly simple device. It makes calls, sends texts and may do any number of things for you.

And sometimes, it seems, a phone is the only way to reach the outside world—the only way to let our friends know that, well, we are still breathing. At least, this is what Milly Dowler’s parents thought.

Milly Dowler is dead.

In 2002, Milly Dowler was abducted on her way home from school. Soon after she was murdered in cold blood. Before Milly’s parents learned of their daughter’s death, they submitted a missing person’s report and quickly set out to find her.

For seven months, police, family and friends searched far and wide for Milly, but no luck. The only shred of hope for Milly’s family came from her phone company—somehow, she was deleting her voice mail messages! Milly must be alive.

She wasn’t.

News of the world journalists were hacking Milly’s phone. They listened to her voice mail messages, and then deleted them. They heard her family’s desperate pleas. They stripped Milly’s family of their privacy and gave them false hope.  

Milly’s family isn’t the only one left devastated by News of the World Journalists. At a recent parliamentary investigation into media ethics, countless witnesses came out of the woodwork to stand up against the unethical, immoral and inhuman standards of the media in Britain.  

Surely, this isn’t happening in Australia though? Our media has always acted ethically, right?

“A dingo’s got my baby”.

Thirty years after the death of Azaria Chamberlain, the words her mother cried out at journalists still manage to strike a chord. In fact, her story was made so huge by the media, that jokes about the death of Lindy Chamberlain’s daughter even made it onto TV shows like Two and a Half Men.

But who was Lindy?

Lindy Chamberlain was born in New Zealand, but soon moved to Australia. She grew up here and had a family. After some time in Tasmania, Lindy and her family moved to Queensland. There’s nothing particularly interesting to say about Lindy. She was just an ordinary person with an ordinary life, like you and I.

It was only after, well, a dingo got her baby, that her world changed. Soon she became a household name in Australia. And after that, the story became a media hit around the world, selling newspapers left right and centre.

But what about Lindy? What about her family? What about thirty years of trial by media? Eh, who cares, she’s only one person.

One person’s life completely ruined by the greed of the media.

It is this attitude that leaves families in ruins.

Nobody can escape. The sports stars, the writers, the humanitarians, the academics, the musicians, the artists, actors, actresses, chefs… ordinary people…Lindy and Milly….you and I.

Regardless of who you are or what your circumstances may be, if you’re going to sell papers, then the media will stop at nothing to tell your story.

But, who’s to blame for this?

Perhaps the easiest way to go would be to stick it on the government? They are responsible for protecting our interests, so why have they failed us here? They must be responsible for fixing the media!

But what if, we just said that the media were to blame? That makes sense. They are the ones who are robbing people of their privacy and acting immorally. Surely they should be held responsible!

The media and the government do have a roll to play in this, but what about us?

We are, after all, the reason the media exists. If we didn’t buy their product, why would they go to the effort to distribute it?

In fact, today we are actually a part of the media. We call it social media and the only difference between it and the rest of the media is that we manage it.  

On websites like Facebook and Twitter, we can read and discuss everything from the political situation in Mozambique, to declining breakfast cereal to box ratios—whatever we choose really.

Social media does not stop at that, however. Much like our own “every day” media, it is driven by immoral and unfair invasions of privacy. Social media is full of gossip. Whether it be about people in the public eye or Jimmy Stevens from Bacchus Marsh, there is a constant stream of images and snippets of information being uploaded each day.

Despite this, despite the cyber bullying of celebrities and ordinary people alike, we still choose to indulge. Each day, more and more people connect to these websites.

Social media is defined by our choices. Content won’t spread unless we choose to share it. In fact, content won’t even be there in the first place unless we choose to publish it.  

So it raises the question, is it the media’s standards that are declining, or ours? Are they really just immoral, unethical and unfair, or are they just giving us what we want?

And if we are the media; what can we do to stop media gone nuts?