Keating
“Funeral Service of the Unknown Australian Soldier”
1993
- Australia
|Primary purpose to commemorate & reflect on the selfless sacrifice made by the thousands of unknown Australian soldiers who had been killed in war
• Keating doesn’t look to glorify war, but rather give thanks for the actions of these Australian soldiers who gallantly fought to protect our lands and way of life
• Calls us to celebrate the qualities of the Unknown Soldier and learn to “endure hardship and to stick together”
• Bringing country together in remembrance (uniting)- aim of creating a national identity based on qualities of Aus’n life - ‘mateship’ ‘courage’, resilience, self belief and the need to ‘stick together’
• Acknowledge wide background of Aust’ns
• This speech is one of the greatest speeches in Australia because it commemorates the great contributions of Australians and denounces war.
Delivered speech on 11, 1993 at the Aus’n War Memorial, Canberra. 11 Nov – remembrance day – significant as his speech is based around it - in memory of all those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts.
Audience – multi-cultural Aus, those who fought against Aus/allies in previous wars – RSL members, ex-soldiers, broadcasted speech – on TV.
Emotive speech which didn’t isolate any one in society but united everyone.
|P.M. of Aus
• Speech/Eulogy not written by Keating but by Don Watson, but he makes it his through the way he delivers it.
• 75 years after WW1
• Funeral ceremony was to be officially recognised as a poignant and powerful symbol of All Australians who have died in war
• Debate/obsession with national identity
• Echoes Lincoln’s Gettysburg address about commemorating the war dead |Honour war dead and give thanks for their great sacrifice
• Need to unify country and develop a national