Video transcript
Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition 2020 - Years 3 and 4 state final

[music playing]

TONY DAVEY: Welcome to The 2020 Multicultural Perspectives Years 3 and 4 State Final. My name is Tony Davey, and I'm your chairperson for today. I'm the Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Coordinator. And I'm coming to you from the Cammeraygal land of the Eora nation. But of course, the people you're going to be hearing a lot from today are all on different lands of many different First Nations people.

So, each one of them is going to do their own acknowledgment for you now as you meet them, starting up at Kahibah Public School with Maya. Here we go. Best of luck guys.

MAYA KELLY: Hi, I'm Maya. And I'm from Kahibah Public School, and I'm on Awabakal lands.

SAMUEL COCKS: Hi, I'm Sam Cocks from Newington Public School on the traditional land of the Eora nation.

JAKE WOLFSON: Hi, I'm Jake Wolfson from Mudgee Public School on Wiradjuri country.

KARAMBIR SINGH: Hi, Karambir Singh from the land of the Wangal tribe of the Dharug, of the Wangal land of the Dharug tribe.

ZOYA PATEL: Hi, my name is Zoya Patel from Quakers Hill East Public School. I'm in the traditional land of the Dharug people.

BRIDGET KELLY: Hi, I'm Bridget Kelly from Armidale City Public School on the tradition one of the Nganyaywana people.

YEN HYUNH: Hi, I'm Yen Hyunh from Carlingford West Public School on the on the traditional land of the Dharug people.

FLYNN BUNN: Hello, I'm Flynn from Griffith East Public School on the land of the Wiradjuri people.

FRED STEWART: Hello, my name is Fredrick Stewart from North Sydney Demonstration School. And I'm on the traditional land of the Cammeraygal people.

MARLO LAIGHT: Hello, I'm Marlo Laight from North Sydney Demonstration School. And I'm on the traditional land of the Cammeraygal people.

TONY DAVEY: Great stuff, guys. And we all want to acknowledge the elders past, present, and emerging of those many different nations and extend that respect to all indigenous peoples here today. All right. I'll get all of the speakers to mute for us again. And we'll kick this thing off. So, this year in the Multicultural Perspectives Competition, it was a little bit of a weird and different year.

We had over 1,100 videos submitted of kids giving prepared speeches. And from there, we winnowed those speeches down. And we had 160 kids make live regional finals over Zoom, just like the one you're in now. You guys remember that, obviously. And of course, that led to this final today, where the 10 very best Years 3 and 4 speakers are going to be competing online live to be named the 25th ever Multicultural Public Speaking Years 3 and 4 champion.

And we're super excited to have you along in our 25th year. My last job then is to introduce the adjudicators to you. So, today, our first adjudicator you're going to meet is Justin Lai. Justin was the 2018 national champion in the Plain English Speaking Award. So, that's like the super grown-up version of the competition you're about to compete in. And he also adjudicated more local finals this year than anyone else. And he also adjudicated more regional finals this year than anyone else. So, you probably know him pretty well.

And it's probably just - it's probably demonstrative of the fact that he doesn't have much to do during COVID. He's just been basically watching multicultural speeches all year. Your next adjudicator is Lloyd Cameron. Lloyd is the past Speaking Competition's Officer for the Arts Unit. He's probably our most experienced adjudicator. But most importantly, he's the co-founder of this competition. So, it is excellent to have him back adjudicating in this, the competition's 25th year, amazing.

The last adjudicator today is Carolyn Christoforidis, who is over at the multicultural education team. So her job, she's the Multicultural Education and Community Relations Advisor for our department. And what that means is she helps schools to deliver multicultural education programs and helps promote positive community relations between schools and parents and community members from all kinds of different and diverse backgrounds.

Plus, of course, she's an experienced adjudicator now. She adjudicated this final last year. Although, good luck to you if you can remember last year, because that was a very, very long time ago I'm sure we're all aware. OK. Finally, as I've said a couple of times now, this is the 25th year of the competition. And for that, I just want to say that I'm super proud to have been involved in the competition this year.

And I'm sure that everybody who's been a part of it is super proud of you guys and everything that you've achieved. And with that, a really big thanks also to the multicultural team who are the ones who fund this competition and have done for these past 25 years, which is an amazing effort, and to The Arts Unit as well who've done a great job of keeping this competition running. So, thanks to all of those guys.

And finally, of course, to all of the teachers who this year not just helped you write speeches but been IT people as well, as well as like camera people, and done all of the different things on top of their normal jobs to make this competition work. Amazing stuff, guys. Here we go then. It's time to begin. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome possibly the bravest person, our first speaker this morning, Maya Kelly from Kahibah Public School. And the subject of Maya's speech is 'Refugees.'

MAYA KELLY: Have you ever thought about your first memory? One of my early memories was at my birthday party with family, friends, and lots of cake. I was in a safe little bubble of love and happiness. My babsha, my Polish grandmother, her first memory was in a refugee camp with her family in a cramped, two room back, no hot water or bath.

In 1949, the Greta Army Training Camp was turned into a reception and processing camp for displaced persons who had to leave Europe after their countries were devastated by World War II. My great grandparents had to flee Poland and wait in a refugee camp in Italy. They didn't know where they were headed. But they needed to leave in order to survive. The next ship was to Australia.

My babsha was born here in a refugee camp. Her memories tell of a difficult but loving childhood, where her parents wanted to give their children an opportunity to learn, grow, and fit in where it was safe. It makes me wonder about the experiences of refugees 70 years later in 2020. Are they treated better or worse than before? And what can we do to help?

Australia is a very multicultural nation. It has migrants from 190 different countries. But did you know that there are almost 80 million displaced persons in the world right now and that 40% of these people are children? Many of these long to come to Australia to flee war, famine, poverty, and danger. Processed offshore, refugees are in limbo, separated from families, enduring hardship rather than returning to conflict and persecution in their home countries.

Our government has transferred some asylum seekers back to Australia. But they often live in uncertainty in the community on temporary bridging visas or detained in centres and hotels. Recently, we have had many Australians locked down in their own homes. And we have heard daily about how hard that was for them. Imagine how hard it is for refugees detained in a foreign country, unable to return to their homelands and with uncertain futures.

I feel lucky that I happened to be born in Australia with no war, famine, or extreme poverty. Does that mean it is our duty to help people less fortunate than us, through no fault of their own? The Refugee Council of Australia has made 2020 the year of welcome. But I wonder how truly welcoming we are. So, how can we be part of a solution that makes everyone's future better?

We can donate money and essentials and help out charities. The most recent budget reduces the funding to support refugees by 70% over the last two years. We can write letters to politicians, asking our government to increase this funding again and improve conditions for refugees. If we all work together, we can create a friendly, kind, and welcoming society that allows refugees safety and freedom just like the rest of us. That's the opportunity my grandmother was given. And that's the kind of world I want to live in today.

[applause]

TONY DAVEY: Then ladies and gentlemen, it's time to welcome our second speaker this morning, Samuel Cocks representing Newington Public School. And the subject of Samuel's speech is 'The Olympics, breaking down the barriers.'

SAMUEL COCKS: The Olympics, breaking down barriers, he didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think. He wasn't sure if he should jump up and start waving at the crowd or look at the floor and stretch his calf muscles. He eyed the track in front of him. Surely it couldn't be 100 metres. It seemed like way more. He wondered how long he'd been waiting, five minutes, five hours. It was impossible to tell.

On your marks, the starter bellowed. Sweat was pouring down the athlete's neck. Get set, he braced himself for the start of the race. Though he paused, he glanced to the right of him to see crouching next to him was an athlete from a country that his own had been at war against. Nobody truly knows when the ancient Greek Olympics took place, though most historians believe they were around 3,000 years ago in the 6th Century BC.

The athletes competed nude, let's not time travel back there, and were made in honour of the Greek god Zeus, god of the lightning and sky. The games would include - the games were made - the games would include 200 metre sprint, long distance, wrestling, boxing, pankration, which is a bit like wrestling, boxing, equestrian, and the pentathlon, which included events similar to long jump, discus, and javelin.

The games were a big hit. Though after quite a while, Emperor Theodosius the first decided he had had enough. In 1894, Baron Pierre de Coupertin founded the International Olympic Committee, also known as the IOC, though it wasn't until 1896 when the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece, the former grounds of the ancient Olympic Games.

Right from the start, breaking down barriers was a vital value of the Olympics. The athletes shook hands and made an oath not to have war with each other during the game. The Olympics remains a festival for other countries to come together, to rejoice over blessing of sport. Though I do have to admit, over the years, the Olympics haven't always broken down barriers. In fact, they've made barriers.

In 1972, at the Munich Summer Olympic Games on the early morning of September the 5th, a group of Palestinian terrorists, known as Black September, took hostage 11 Israeli athletes, taking nine hostage and killing two. In a shootout at the Munich airport, all the athletes, along with five terrorists and one policeman, were killed during a plan to take back the athletes, chucking a grenade into a terrorist helicopter.

The Olympic games were put on hold for 24 hours to remember the killed athletes, which inspired the 2006 Steven Spielberg movie 'Munich' 34 years later. You would all know that the 2020 Olympic Games were postponed due to COVID-19, though that gives Australia the chance to come back bigger and better, stronger, and faster and win the 2021 Olympics. But we'll need your help to work together and to bring home victory to our country to etch out name in the list of winners once and for all.

And I'm telling you that if one day you want to compete in the Olympics, go ahead and achieve your dream. If you want to compete in long jump, compete in long jump. If you want to compete in shot-put, compete in shot-put. If you want to run 200 metre sprint, run 200 metre sprint. And don't let anyone, not anyone, tell you you can't do it. You know the athlete we were talking about at the start.

He didn't actually win the race. He came second, beaten by the athlete from a country that had been at war with his own. But he was proud to have shook hands and congratulated the winning athlete. He relished the opportunity to celebrate their common humanity and the glory of sport, The Olympics, breaking down barriers.

[applause]

TONY DAVEY: With thanks to Samuel, it's now time for our third speaker this morning, Jake Wolfson, representing Mudgee Public School. And the subject of Jake's speech is 'Words can hurt.'

JAKE WOLFSON: Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me. Oh, come on, that's ridiculous. I'm sure there's not one person in this room who hasn't been hurt by something that someone has said about them. For some people who look different from others, this is a daily struggle. Think of Jintal a nine-year-old boy living in a small town in New South Wales.

He was born Australian, but his parents are from South Korea. He loves the Korean food that his mum makes, happily speaks Korean at home, and enjoys celebrating special Korean holidays with his family. But when he's at school, it is different. A few of us classmates laugh whenever they try to pronounce his name and say, eww, when he pulls out his lunch box full of his favourite Korean treats.

Being constantly teased and made to feel different school makes him feel sad. He started to ask his mum to pack a lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches like the other kids and doesn't want to speak Korean at home. Like all kids, Jintal just wants to fit in. Jintal's story is a very common one. Research looking at multicultural youth in Australia found that 25% of the students surveyed had suffered racial discrimination.

Racist comments make them believe that being different is wrong. But what they don't realise is that being different is what makes them special. We need to be responsible for the words we choose to use, whether we're in the playground, on the street, or playing online games with others. It is great that we have a society where we can create new words that don't hurt.

For example, we can call our prime minister ScoMo, even though it sounds like a cleaning product. But with freedom of speech, we can say words that hurt. Racist remarks are never acceptable. Words have the power to unite or divide us. Just look at the current situation in America, a country divided by racist comments. Yes, I'm talking about you President Trump.

Racial slurs have seen the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. Black Lives Matter, these three words are used to support a community that has long been discriminated against. We are seeing some communities united and standing up for one another. Let's all try to make a difference. Don't join in on teasing. Kids in the playground sometimes say racist things just to make their friends laugh.

Although some kids don't mean it, these words can still hurt and hurt for a long time. Don't make fun of a person's cultural background. Instead, find out more about the person. Ask them about their culture, what they like to do. Maybe they like Harry Potter books, doing back flips on trampolines and eating burnt marshmallows, too. You may have more in common than you realise.

We are so lucky to live in a multicultural country. But with diversity, we must appreciate our differences and make others feel proud of their uniqueness. One of the most powerful ways to do this is being careful with our words. Before you speak, always remember that the words that you use have the power to break someone down or make someone feel great about themselves.

We should all use our words to encourage others and respect other people's differences and to always aim to make others feel good about themselves. Let's all work together to stop making words hurt but to make words heal. Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can also hurt me.

[applause]

TONY DAVEY: So, with massive thanks to Jake, it's now time to welcome our fourth speaker this morning, Karambir Singh, representing Homebush West Public School. And the subject of his speech is 'Racism, no way.'

KARAMBIR SINGH: Do you want to be judged and treated unfairly because of what you look like and your skin colour? And did you also know that 97% of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia have experienced racism before? To me, racism is an unfair act of judgement against others of a different race because you feel more superior over them. Anyone can experience racist behaviour, such as being bullied and verbally abused.

It's never OK to make racist jokes or to make racist jokes or comments about others, because it might affect their feelings or even hurt them deep inside. Anyone can - I mean, racism is worse for people who experience it frequently. Groups and people in Australia who regularly experience racist behaviour include Aboriginal people, Torres Strait Islander people, and people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

These people also have to deal with systemic discrimination, which limits their access to the opportunities and resources that many Australians have. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are sadly also dealing with the effect of past laws and government policies, which usually resulted in them being removed to missions, reserves, or taken away from their families.

These laws and policies have caused huge amounts of hurt and pain for individuals, families, and communities, which shows up in lots of different ways, poor health, high rates of mental illness, and even family breakdowns. In many cases, this disadvantage has been passed from one generation to the other, meaning that many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people today miss out on the opportunities that many Australians take for granted.

Accepting others for being different and who they are is exactly what we should be doing right now in this time. Everyone is different. I mean, you, myself, and everyone around you is different. Not making racist jokes or comments not only helps others feel good but also makes you feel good as a person. Now I want you to imagine a future generation where racism is a daily thing, and no one steps up to do the right thing.

That would be absolutely horrifying. That's why adults should teach their children not to be racist and accept others even though they're different. The children would later on learn to be nonracist adults and help teach the society the same thing. I imagine an Australia where there's 100% equality and not a trace of racism. Racism can change a lot of lives. But together, we can stop this by standing up for the people who are in need of immediate help.

I want you to go to your mate's bully or whoever has been talking about racism and tell them that, you're not doing the right thing. So, you should stop right now. By doing this action, you're not only helping a single person. You're actually helping a whole community to stay away from racism. If we do this continuously, I'm pretty sure Australia will be a 10 times better place, not only for the people that are the victims of next level racism but also for us.

To end with, I would like to say a quote by Toni Morrison, a famous American novelist, 'scientifically, there's no such thing as race, none. There's just the human race'.

[applause]

TONY DAVEY: With massive thanks to Karambir, it's now time to welcome our fifth speaker this morning, Zoya Patel, who's representing Quakers Hill East Public School. And the subject of Zoya's speech is 'Kid power.'

ZOYA PATEL: Good morning, chairperson and audience. When the whole world is silent, even one voice can be powerful. These are the wise, encouraging, and very powerful words of Malala Yousafzai, a young girl from a small village in Pakistan who fearlessly stood up for the rights of women education in front of the Taliban, one of the most oppressive regimes the world has ever seen.

Malala is not the only young person trying to make the world a better place by fighting discrimination. Zhan Haite, a 15-year-old from Shanghai, China, took a stand against her country's draconian residency registration system and led a movement that eventually got her cause the attention it deserved. Like Rene Silva, an 11-year-old from Brazil, dedicated himself to fighting negative stereotypes about his favela community.

What these examples suggest is it does not matter what your age, gender, religion, heritage, or nationality is, the power to make a change is in every single one of us. A research done by UNICEF serving 5,600 primary grade students across the United States reveal that students do not believe their actions can make a positive difference in the community or the world.

I gave this some thought. And this could be because we as kids feel incapable, that if we voice our opinion, no one will listen, that we are very small in an adult world, that we don't completely understand the dangers that are involved in speaking up and standing up for what we truly believe in, that we have self-doubt. I most certainly have moments when I do. However, research also suggests that kids have the amazing ability to carry on and push themselves when adults can't.

According to the CIA World Factbook, 27% of the world's population is under 15. Now that's a substantial percentage. And hence, it is important that we understand the power of our voice if we all decide to speak together. My fellow students, if this information has inspired you, I request you to not underestimate your ability to stand in whatever small way you can. Maybe look up online on ways to promote inclusiveness and multiculturalism.

If you have an idea, speak to your parents, to your teachers about it and involve them. And to the adults listening to this today, speak to your children about multiculturalism, help them understand the importance of inclusiveness. Like Maya Angelou says, 'it's time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity, there is beauty, there is strength'. I for one am extremely driven to make a difference. And I urge you to step up, be fearless, and do the same. In the words of the great Mahatma, 'be the change you want to see in the world'. Thank you.

[applause]

TONY DAVEY: All right. Then with massive thanks to Zoya Patel, it's time to welcome our sixth speaker this morning, Bridget Kelly, representing Armidale City Public School. The subject of Bridget's speech is 'Refugees.'

BRIDGET KELLY: Imagine this, every single person living in Sydney is forced to go home tomorrow because of war and violence. Now multiply that by 13, they are more than 65 million displaced people globally. More than half of these are children. My classmate Fataya is a Yazidi refugee from Qinghong in Iraq. Her family were desperately seeking protection and were given refugee status by the government.

They needed a safe home. And Australia answered their plea, being willing to share its wealth and peace with refugees. But is this enough? Fataya and her family were resettled in Armidale April 2019 when she was nine years old. When they left Iraq, there was lots of fighting and violence, even at school. Violence was at its worse in 2014, when a terrorist group attacked and the Yazidi's were left defenceless by the Kurdish army.

Horrific attacks were carried out on them. Hostages were taken. Thousands died. In complete contrast to this is the peace that Australia enjoys. For decades, Australia has protected refugees under its humanitarian program. In Qinghong Fataya's family all slept in one room and electricity was very unreliable. Roads were in bad condition and unsafe.

I asked Fataya what she missed the most about Qinghong and she sad her family, grandparents, and cousins. It must be very hard to leave the family in an unsafe place and come to a new culture. The Yazidi community in Iraq is very poor because they have no way to make a living. They're traditionally farmers and shepherds but are being moved off their land by their government, who hasn't invested any money in the area.

Australia's responsible government means we have money for our own people and others. Our humanitarian program now takes almost 20,000 refugees each year. Our government provides a way to a safe place. But how can we personally make it their home? There are five refugee kids in my class. And while they learn English, the rest of us learn Yazidi Kurdish. I've been recording my voice reading aloud the English words in the book - books we use.

Fataya and her older brother Farad are going to help my teacher run classes to teach others in the school about their language and in turn help these Yazidi kids to learn English. I can tell when the Yazidi kids are enjoying school, because smiles don't need translation, neither do activities like lego which is fun to do together. But is this enough? Our government provides so much. But I challenge you to help me by doing more. Start with something. Start with respect but keep going.

Show compassion, be proactive, and help where you can. Read them a book, learn their language, help them to learn ours. Learn more about refugees. Be a friend. Be generous with your time and money. Help them start a new, safe life. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. Make sure you've done enough.

[applause]

TONY DAVEY: So, with thanks to Bridget, it's now time to welcome our seventh speaker this morning, Yen Huynh, representing Carlingford West Public School. And Yen's speech is, 'When does a migrant become an Australian?'

YEN HUYNH: Imagine that you are a migrant, fleeing from your war-torn motherland not through choice but to save the lives of your family. Can you imagine the pain of leaving your entire life behind and starting all over again, from scratch? This is my father's story. During the Vietnam Civil War, he and my grandparents were running, hoping to find refuge in a Democratic country where people can freely be who they want to be.

That was 40 years ago. Today, they are Australian citizens by both law and by heart. How do you actually track the journey from being a migrant to becoming a citizen? Let's begin with stage one of the metamorphosis from migrant to citizen. Becoming an Australian citizen is a gruelling process. You have to wait for four years to apply for citizenship, sit a test about Australia, have your identity scrutinised, and then wait in anticipation for up to 10 months to get a document, one piece of paper to - that holds the verdict of the question, are you Australian?

Is there value behind these tests? Yes. To a certain extent, these tests are necessary. The definition of citizen is when an individual is given all the privileges a country has to offer. Australia offers Medicare, Centrelink benefits, and amazing education opportunities. And these are all supported by the true cogs of our system, taxpayers. If a migrant is to become a citizen, it seems only fair for them to be assessed if they can contribute to our economy as a working taxpayer.

But even after all these tests, are you an Australian by value? It's very Aussie to love equality. It's no secret that Australians rejoice in the fact that their country is filled with people from different ethnicities and backgrounds. Learning to embrace multiculturalism is often an aspect that many migrants initially struggle with the most. This is probably because they come from monocultural countries, which don't look kindly upon different ethnic groups.

In Australia, as a multicultural country, we are gifted this privilege of being able to practise our own religions without any fear of judgement. After some time in Australia, many migrants would have discovered new foods that tingle their tongues. As a food lover, I say that is the moment a migrant truly feels at home in Australia. Now that the migrant feels at home, the final question is, when will other Australians see you as one of them?

Is it when you wave at them when you walk down the sidewalk? Is it when your accent slowly disappears? Or maybe instead of seeing migration as joining an already perfect country, it's more about embarking on a shared journey for both migrants and citizens to feel at home together. Perhaps there's still some way to go. When we consider that 7 in 10 students experience racism during childhood, we realise that our - that our privilege is an essential work in progress.

Oh, and as for my father, you can still see him enjoying pho, Vietnamese noodles. But he'll still be down for an Australian barbecue. The great thing is he's free to eat both. Take a moment to think about our fortune that your parents may have sacrificed their lives for and acknowledge how lucky we are to live in this multicultural country, Australia. Whoever you are, wherever you come from, we welcome you with open arms. Thank you.

[applause]

TONY DAVEY: So, with massive thanks to Yen for her speech, it's now time to welcome Flynn Bunn, representing Griffith East Public School. And the subject of Flynn's speech is, 'The Olympics, breaking down barriers.'

FLYNN BUNN: In 2011, Rami Anis left his hometown in Syria at the age 20. Due to war, he fled to Turkey before making his way to Greece on an inflatable dinghy and seeking asylum in Belgium. Rami Anis is now a refugee. He is also now an Olympian. Every country in the world can compete in the Olympics, one of the largest and most multicultural competitions ever to exist.

But what if you aren't part of a country? What if you are forced to flee from the place you called home? Well, 70 million people around the world are sadly currently in that situation. But what if you are also a good athlete, good enough to compete in the Olympics? But you are one of those 70 million displaced people. Think of the barriers you'd have to break. Where would you train? How would you be coached? Where would you get your sports equipment? And who would find you if you were talented?

How could you even afford to travel to these competitions? And most importantly, who would welcome you in your new country? Well, in 2016, prior to the Rio Olympics, a huge barrier was knocked down. The International Olympic Committee announced that a refugee Olympic team will be formed with 10 members. Rami Anis would be one of these first members.

Thing about my life, when I want to get better at almost any sport, for example, swimming, just like Rami, I have facilities in Griffith I can easily access to train at. I can even participate in events run by my school, such as our swimming carnival. But none of this is available if you're a refugee, like Rami. The Olympic Creed states that there'll be no discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, gender, or religion.

And multiculturalism is working very well in the Olympics. The refugee Olympic team lives together in the Olympic Village, sharing thoughts, meals, and emotions with all the other Olympic teams and competing as an equal. Although this barrier's broken, many remain standing. For example, financial barriers are much harder to knock down.

17% of the world's population live in Africa. But yet, in the 2016 Rio Olympics, the entire continent only won 4% of the 2016 gold medals. However, in Europe, which only has 11% of the world's population, 47% of the 2016 gold medals were won. Now this is simply because Africa is a poorer continent than Europe. The government does not have enough money to fund these athletes properly.

If I was an elite athlete living in Australia, although I'm clearly not, the Australian government would fund a program which helps me excel. The Australian government even gives out active kids vouchers to - to parents to help pay for their children's sports fees. Hopefully, this will begin to get fairer for Africa and other poorer nations in the future.

Rami Anis said earning a standing ovation at Rio after sending a personal best in the men's 100 metre freestyle is a dream come true. What a story of the Olympics, where anyone can break down barriers. And you can help break down more, being a person that makes sure a refugee fits in. Ask if they'd like to join your sports team. Be welcoming and encouraging if they're in your swimming group or talk to them about sports from where they came from. Because, who knows, maybe they will become the next great Olympian.

[applause]

TONY DAVEY: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you Flynn over at Griffith East. And now it's time to welcome the first of our North Sydney Public finalists. That's Fred Stewart, and the subject of Fred's speech is 'Racism, no way.'

FRED STEWART: In 2015, the indigenous journalist Stan Grant gave a speech proclaiming that the Australian dream was rooted in racism, starting with the arrival of the first fleet. To support his claim, he listed the many injustices his ancestors had to endure due to their Aboriginality. So, has Australia managed to overcome its racist origins? Or is racism still an issue that our country struggles with today?

Well, when I look around my community, it seems that we are making great strides in overcoming racism. We celebrate Harmony Day and feel enriched by our cultural diversity. Unfortunately, this little peaceful bubble is under threat by a resurgence of racism around the world. In May, George Floyd, a black American man, was murdered by a white police officer. The video capturing the murder was watched by millions of people, sparking a global protest movement.

Six months later, the Black Lives Matter protests in the US are still ongoing. Many Australians express disbelief at what happened to George Floyd. Surely something like this could never happen in multicultural Australia. Sadly, police brutality is also a topic that plagues our country and affect overwhelmingly indigenous people. Aboriginal man, David Dungay, Junior died in police custody. And his last words were the same as George Floyd's, I can't breathe.

As a result of deep-rooted racism over many decades, indigenous Australians are the most disadvantaged group in the Australian community. This is particularly the case in relation to the juvenile criminal justice system. In Australia, the age of criminal responsibility, which means the age that you can be sent to prison, is 10. The Raise the Age Campaign is lobbying the government to increase the age to 14.

Currently, around 600 children under 14 are in juvenile detention centres. And 70% of those children have an Aboriginal background. In the Northern Territory, 100% of all children in juvenile detention come from Aboriginal families. The documentary 'In my blood it runs' stars 10-year-old Dujuan, an Indigenous boy who nearly ended up in juvenile detention himself. Last year, Dujuan gave a speech to the United Nations arguing that the age should be raised.

I saw a report about Dujuan on BTN, and it made me realise that not everybody in Australia gets the same fair go. So how could we help end this horrible practise? Most non-indigenous Australians are most likely blissfully unaware that kids as young as 10 are being locked up in our country. I encourage teachers to educate children my age about challenging issues like these during NAIDOC week to facilitate true reconciliation by creating empathy rather than just having retellings of the story of the rainbow serpent.

After all, if some of us are old enough to be locked up, then surely we're old enough to learn about that fact. So, in conclusion, although Australia has made a lot of progress in the fight against racism since the landing of the first fleet, the gap between the indigenous and the non-indigenous people in our country has not yet closed. Let us come together and advance Australia by saying, racism, no way.

[applause]

TONY DAVEY: So, ladies and gentlemen, massive thanks to Fred for his speech. And it's time to welcome now our final speaker this morning, Marlo Laight, also from North Sydney Public School. And the subject of Marlo's speech is, 'Respect'.

MARLO LAIGHT: I would like to begin by acknowledging the Cammeraygal people of the Guringai tribe of the Eora nation, the traditional custodians of the land we gather on today. I would also like to pay my respects to the elders both past and present and extend that respect to any other Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples here today. It was here on this land that for thousands of years the Cammeraygal people shared their knowledge, beliefs, and culture with their children, just as we are taught here today.

But when it comes to our history, we're not being told the whole story. And I think this shows a serious lack of respect to our First Nations people. I've been really lucky to spend time with elders from different tribes across Australia. They have shared their traditional dreaming stories and taught me about respecting the land. They have taught me about their flag and how the black represents the Aboriginal people, the red the earth, and the yellow the sun, giver of life.

They've even taught me how to predict whether by reading nature and how to catch a fish without a fishing line. And they've done all this with lots of kindness. While the stories they shared with me aren't mine to share with you, the real story of our shared history needs to be. In school, we learn about Australia's history from the view of white settlers. We learn about how Captain Cook discovered Australia in 1770.

But we don't learn about the Aboriginal peoples who discovered it more than 50,000 years earlier. We learn about how Captain Cook and his crew declared the country was unoccupied and the property of England. But we don't learn about the 29 indigenous clans who lived around Sydney whose property it already was. We learn about the first fleet arriving in 1788 and about the convicts and leaders who built the new colony in Sydney.

But we don't learn about the brave indigenous leaders who fought to protect the people and land. We don't learn - we learn about how Australian cities grew. But we don't learn about how that changed the lives and traditions of the First Nations people or about how introduced diseases killed 70% of the indigenous population. We don't learn about how those who survived had their land and cultural identity taken from them or about how they were banned from using their traditional names and their traditional customs.

We don't learn about segregation or about how children were removed from their families and placed into missions. And we don't learn about how indigenous Australians weren't even officially recognised as existing until 1960. And we don't learn, though our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now have the same access to health care and education, years of disadvantage mean they still have the worst health, lowest school attendances, and highest levels of unemployment in Australia.

We don't learn about how they have to face racism every single day. And we don't learn about makarrata, the Yolngu word meaning coming together after a struggle. Where is the respect? I have an idea. 250 years of fighting for recognition and respect is 250 years too long. But if our schools taught the whole story of our country's history and showed respect to our First Nations people by inviting them to our schools more often to share their amazing stories and knowledge, and we listened with respect, perhaps we can be the generation to make makarrata happen. Thank you.

[applause]

TONY DAVEY: OK, great stuff. Next it's time for the impromptu speech section. So, the speakers are going to come back one by one. And then they're going to get five minutes to write an impromptu speech. During that time, they have to stay unmuted, on camera. And they're only allowed blank paper and blank palm cards. So, they can't have notes or scaffolding or anything.

And then they're going to give us a 1-minute speech. They'll get a warning light at 30 seconds. They'll be told it's 1 minute time with another warning light. And then if they reach 1 minute 30, they'll get a red warning light. So, that's how the impromptu speech section is going to work. And the topic that they'll all be speaking on is, 'Breaking the rules.' OK. So, let's welcome back our first speaker from Cohiba Public School, Maya Kelly. Yay, Maya.

[applause]

MAYA KELLY: Breaking the rules can include talking in class, not doing your chores, and not doing your homework. And this is usually conceived as bad. But we all break the rules sometimes. Without breaking rules, the world would be boring. There wouldn't be a class clown. And you couldn't relax sometimes. You know that kid in class who's always breaking the rules, they make everything fun and interesting, especially when you need a good laugh.

It's important to be a trailblazer and break the rules when necessary. If everyone was the same and all uptight, the world would be boring. So, it's OK to colour outside the lines. And when the time is right, it's OK to break the rules, too.

[applause]

SAMUEL COCKS: Breaking the rules, rules, rules, more rules, no running on the concrete. Be respectful. No diving. There's just so many rules, at the pool, at school, pretty much everywhere. Rules can be annoying. But should we follow them? A long, long time ago, when America was a racist and unfair country, an African-American man, Martin Luther King, stood up for the rights of Africa - of African people.

Along with the help from other people such as Rosa Parks, he changed America's racist and unfair ways, which started when Rosa Parks broke a rule that black and white people should sit on opposite sides of the bus, starting the bus boycott where people didn't ride on the bus until that rule was changed. Rules can be for your safety. And most of the time, we should follow them. But whenever there is a chance to stand up for something that's wrong or correcting your teacher, we should do exactly that. Thank you.

[applause]

JAKE WOLFSON: We all love to break rules. But something - sometimes breaking the rules can help you and can save someone's life. For example, if someone had a heart attack on the beach and there was a defibrillator in the lifeguard tower, what would you do? Would you sit there and watch them die, or would you break in to the lifeguard tower and break the rules? For me, I'd break into the lifeguard tower.

There are some silly rules, like you can't hold a salmon suspiciously. Or you have to have a hay bale in a black cab in London. And if you break them, it's no big deal. But they still have those laws and those rules. Some of them are beer at home. There's a whole book of an Encyclopaedia that contains a recipe - recipe for making beer at home. And that is now illegal. And you can not read it, how weird. Breaking the rules is trouble and can also result in saving someone's life.

[applause]

KARAMBIR SINGH: Breaking the rules, what does breaking the rules mean to me? To me, breaking the rules is like finding new limits, finding new things that you can go to to improve even more. In life, you will always learn new skills and abilities in order to go ahead and just find a path where you can go and find a new self. This reminds me of when I was playing cricket with a friend at school. And I was the bowler.

I was so nervous because that friend of mine was way better than me at cricket. And it was a challenge, honestly, to face him. And I thought, oh no, I would lose. Because I don't have any other things to do except for just doing yorkers. So, I thought to myself, wait a minute, I have some experience from my cricket academy that I joined last year. So, I used a new stance. And that was spin bowling. And turns out, my friend's weakness was spin bowling.

So, I found a new limit. I had breaken my own limit. I had breaken a rule where I thought to myself that, oh no, I couldn't do it. But turns out, I could. So, I did spin bowl, and I won. From my experience, you can learn that there'll always be rules, but there always wouldn't. What I mean is that you can always break them, just with you. So, break the rules because there are none. Thank you.

[applause]

ZOYA PATEL: Mark Twain said, a good impromptu speech usually takes him more than three weeks to prepare. But I wrote this in 5 minutes, so wish me luck. When I got this impromptu topic, it made me think why we shouldn't break the rules. I once broke the rules when seeing the Essex students doing gymnastics on the grass. So, I thought it was a perfectly fine idea. So, I decided to do gymnastics.

But when the teacher came and - and punished us, I realised that it was not allowed. And from that time onwards, the Essex students were never allowed to do gymnastics on the grass. Now if breaking the rules can be fun, I - I personally request you to not break the rules. Because first of all, it can - because first of all, you can get in bad trouble. And this is why I believe that we shouldn't break the rules. Thank you.

[applause]

BRIDGET KELLY: Breaking the rules, we need to stop breaking the rules of using too much plastic in our oceans, to take control and stop using all the plastic we will usually use in our everyday life. Like seeing cucumbers just simply wrapped in plastic, do we really need that? And all the plastic string you get on oranges and lemons, do we really need that?

These naughty things adults put on there are just making us kids feel bad. And when we are older, we'll probably do the same choices as adults doing now, but these rules need to change. We need to break these rules. We need to stand up and say, no, we will not use that plastic, although it's just getting harder and harder for us to do this.

Adults hold us back with the rules. And we will never get to zero waste. So, just because we can't get zero waste doesn't mean we can't take zero action. Thank you.

[applause]

YEN HUYNH: You know that time when you broke - when you went out of bounds in school or, I don't know, broke the rules? No matter how resilient or how trustworthy you are, you would always do that once in a while. And then there's breaking the laws, like speeding, drunk driving, et cetera. It's all over the news. But sometimes to keep going, you have to break the rules.

Let me illustrate to you an example. In movies, the protagonist, let's say our beloved Harry Potter, breaks the rules in first year - in first year going to the forbidden corridor and goes to meet Fluffy, the three-headed dog, sees his friend, sees a trapdoor under it, and, well, you know what happens next. He goes down there, saves the philosopher's stone.

In this example, you will see that, well, you don't - you always break the rules to go forward. And like you can't really not do that ever in your life. It's hard to not. There's always that feeling to just go and break the rules, go out of bounds, but maybe not the laws. Thank you.

[applause]

FLYNN BUNN: Breaking the rules, breaking the rules is usually considered a bad thing. In many places, such as school, this is definitely correct. Speaking when you're not supposed to, always putting your hand up when you want to talk, and hurting people in the playground, those are things you shouldn't do. These are rules you don't want to break.

But sometimes it is OK to break the rules. There was a time when Aboriginal people and women couldn't vote. But eventually, these rules were broken. And it led to a change in the system. Imagine if these rules still existed today. But in many countries, including Australia, there's still some unfair rules that need to be broken. So, sometimes it is OK to break the rules.

[applause]

FRED STEWART: The tension, have you ever been in a situation where you were caught breaking the rules? Well, breaking the rules is not actually always a bad thing. Actually, breaking the rules might be the one thing necessary to worthwhile achievement. Once a person was making chips for an order, he was told that his chips were way too plain and needed some more salt.

He threw potatoes and salt back into the pan enraged. Then he gave the chips to the orderer. When the orderer called the creator of the chips, he said, these are the best chips ever. They were the first potato chips ever invented. And look, potato chips, plain chips as probably the most popular. So, look, breaking the rules is not always bad. It's usually, I think, necessary to worthwhile success. So, look, maybe if breaking the rules is not going to get you in trouble, then why not do it? Thank you.

[applause]

MARLO LAIGHT: I'm sure you've heard of Nelson Mandela, an extremely determined man who fought for what he believed in. And people back then kind of thought that was breaking the rules. So, for his efforts, he was exiled, tortured, and imprisoned for 27 years. And in that time, he was forced into hard labour and solitary confinement. And even through all that, he kept trying.

After he was released, he continued his fight because he knew what he was doing was right. And because he broke the rules, not only did he become - did he achieve his goal but become the first black president of South Africa. And it's not what he fought for, it's the man he was and how he fought for it. I know it's not OK - I know it's not OK to break the rules. But sometimes, if it's needed, it is OK to bend them a little. Thank you.

[applause]

TONY DAVEY: Please now welcome back a representative of the adjudication panel, it'll be Justin Lai, to deliver the adjudication and announce the champion of the Years 3 and 4 2020 Multicultural Perspectives Competition. After you, Justin.

JUSTIN LAI: OK. So, the adjudication panel wanted to start off by firstly congratulating every single finalist for their efforts in this final. This has been a very strange year, as Tony has, you know, said earlier. And the fact that we heard some of like the highest quality speeches we've heard for a very long time was something that is not only a testament to your general skill but a skill in adapting to an online competition, a skill speaking in front of not an audience but a screen and, you know, regardless performing to an exceptional degree.

So, I think that you deserve all a massive round of applause. So, let's do it again.

[applause]

Frankly put, when I was in Year 3 and 4, I think I was picking my nose and falling over. You guys were much more talented than I was. And it's amazing what you guys are able to achieve. You guys are so promising as public speakers. And we simply cannot wait for you guys to, you know, feature consistently, as we know you will, throughout all the competitions we have throughout primary and high school.

So, let's start with a bit of conversation about what we thought you guys generally did quite well, along with some tips that we think you guys could really take on board with regards to both your prepareds and impromptus. And then, like how all speech's competitions go, we're going to announce the winner last. And we're going to draw it out. Because we love seeing you guys, you know, like fidget and work and do all these like very nervous things.

Because I had to do that when I was in your shoes. So, let's start with some sort of general feedback with regards to your prepared. We thought that all of the speeches in this final were incredibly clever, incredibly sophisticated, especially for the stage that you guys are at here. The depth of knowledge, ideas, originality, and research that you guys just poured into these speeches were amazing.

And we thought that that was an absolute standout. We thought all the prepareds here were like phenomenal and just such - like a high standard that we didn't anticipate coming in. We thought, secondly, that they were incredibly passionate and really personal. We thought that a lot of speakers really attempted to find ways which they themselves connected to the topic, as well as maybe members of their own family.

And even in topics where that might have been slightly difficult, all speakers found an avenue by which they sort of could connect to the topic. And that was a really sophisticated but also a really telling sign that they cared so much about this, and the speeches were coming from their hearts, which we really, really thought was great.

In terms of something that we thought that all speakers could do just a little bit better, we thought that sometimes the structure of their speeches, all of your speeches in general, was a little bit crowded. And that generally comes from a lot of overeagerness to talk about everything. Because you guys are full of energy and full of so many good ideas that you just want to cram them all into like a 3 to 4 minute speech and just say everything you can at once.

Sometimes it's better to think about some specific thing that you guys might be able to talk about. And we think that some of the really good speeches here, out of the amazing speeches that you all did, really tried to focus in on maybe a specific idea, rather than just talking about all the brilliant opinions that you guys have with regards to all the issues that you ended up talking about.

Curating your ideas, selecting your examples, coming to a point that might be a very specific point about a specific thing is a great thing to think about for all of your future speeches. So, now let's move on to the impromptu. And the impromptus, of course, as you guys know, was on the topic of breaking the rules. And we thought at the adjudication panel that you could approach it in a number of ways, which you guys also did.

You know, you could approach it from rules, for example - that rules, for example, that people break on a daily basis and why that might be bad, or, as a lot of people tended to do, rules that people break that are actually good and people needed to break them. We thought that all speakers did a really good job, a really admirable job of approaching it from like an impromptu kind of way.

Like we could tell that these guys, you know, every single one of you sat down and was like, you know, like I've got to think on the spot. And it was a really challenging task. But you guys did it to the best of your abilities. And you're sensational because of that. I think in terms of some little feedback that we would have given, probably thinking a little bit about coming up with a meaningful example that kind of defines the speech in a way.

So, try to almost - because you only have a minute, thinking about a single example that you have that demonstrates the idea of your speech very well, sort of talking about it like maybe a personal example at the very beginning of your speech, and then spending maybe the next 40 seconds being like, you know, here are some rules, you know, for example, this person broke them. But, you know, or maybe I broke them, but actually they're a really good thing.

Or maybe we need to follow these rules, like for example, no one talked about it. But there's ample room to talk about a speech about following lockdown protocol or sanitising your hands or even wearing a mask. You know, don't break those rules. Because, you know, for example, we need to all stay safe. But focusing on that kind of thing would have been really nice to do.

So, now on to the winner. We all know you've been waiting this, so hold on tight. Let's go talk a little bit about the winning speech. So, for the winner of this final, we thought that their prepared speech was incredibly original, combined personal topics with global issues, but also did something quite original in that they combined two aspects of a certain topic, which we didn't necessarily anticipate but thought fit really well into it, highlighted a bunch of really interesting ideas, but also issues which, for example, this adjudication panel hadn't really encountered.

We thought that, secondly, they were really able to weave in the personal side of their speech into the content that they were talking about, this big picture thinking about the world. And we thought that the way in which they were able to analogise, for example, their own experiences with the difficulty of others' experiences was a really empathetic way of approaching what was a really interesting topic that might, in other hands, might not have been explored as well.

In terms of the impromptu, we all as a panel agreed that this was the strongest impromptu. We thought that this was a speech that acknowledged that rules could be unfair to some degree, but also things which, for example, were unfair could have been broken. And the breaking of those unfair rules with some specific examples was a really good thing to do and something which would benefit society in the long run.

So, without further ado, the winner of the Years 3 to 4 Multicultural Perspective Public Speaking Competition for 2020 is Flynn Bunn.

[applause]

So, yeah, that's it from the adjudication panel. We'd just like to emphasise that, frankly, every speaker was amazing. Every speaker was sensational. The fact that you've gotten here is amazing and that you guys all have such amazing limitless potential for the future. The fact that this decision was, like genuinely speaking, incredibly difficult for the adjudication panel. The fact that we had to take an extra two minutes to decide and even get everything together was testament to how difficult you guys made our job.

And if my job is this difficult in all future things, I will be very, very pleased. Because you guys are amazing. So, thank you very much for this very, very wonderful final.

[applause]

TONY DAVEY: Smashing work, Justin. Thanks, man. Well done. And thanks, obviously, to the entire adjudication panel once again. We won't keep you much longer, except to say congratulations to Flynn. We'll get him to unmute and say hello, so you can remember which one he is. Hi, Flynn.

FLYNN BUNN: Hello.

TONY DAVEY: Excellent speech, well played. And I'll get Justine Clarke, the Speaking Competition's Officer, to present you with the trophy, by which I mean, hold up the trophy.

JUSTINE CLARKE: Congratulations Flynn. This will be coming out to your school. And you're at Griffith. That might be a nice long drive for me to bring this out to your school. But that will be nice. And we'll get some photos of you. And yeah, congratulations. Great speeches, great speeches by everybody. But congratulations, Flynn, well done.

TONY DAVEY: Yeah, in closing, I think I will just say, forget about Flynn. Sure, he was awesome. But we want to congratulate all of you guys. This thing really makes a lot more sense as a festival of 10 remarkable speeches. And then you kind of just forget about the fact that somebody has to win. We couldn't have been more impressed with how you handled this performance and couldn't have been more entertained by the speeches.

So, for the last time this year, thanks for taking part in this state final. And congratulations, we look forward to seeing all of you guys in future debating and public speaking events. See you around. And this officially closes the state final. See you guys. Well done.