On 10 December 1992, Prime Minister Paul Keating delivered a speech to the large crowd gathered in Redfern Park for the launch of the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
It was a historic moment for Australia.
In his speech, Keating explicitly acknowledged the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. It was the first time a prime minister spoke about the dispossession, violence and prejudice perpetrated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
People who were there recalled the crowd’s reaction – view the full clip below.
Embedded content: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1S4F1euzTw
Community leader and Elder Solomon Bellear AM was there on the day.
Sol passed away in 2017 and there was a state funeral to honour his legacy at Redfern Oval, next to Redfern Park on Saturday 9 December 2017. He was a titan of community advocacy and leadership.
Sol saw great value in the Redfern speech and the importance of acknowledging this pivotal moment in Australian history.
He told The Guardian, “Keating called it – the history – for what it was. And it all goes back to history in this country. All of it”.
The mural on stage during Keating’s speech was created by Bundjalung artist Marlene Phillips especially for the event. The mural is now part of the City of Sydney’s civic collection and was on show in 2017 at Redfern Community Centre to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Redfern Speech.
Redfern Park now features a series of artworks including Bibles and Bullets by Fiona Foley that incorporates a quote from the Redfern Speech.
It begins, I think with that act of recognition. Recognition that it was we who did the dispossessing. We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life. We brought the diseases. The alcohol. We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practised discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice.
– Former Prime Minister Paul Keating, Redfern Speech, 1992
Learn more
- Discover Sydney’s Aboriginal history at Sydney Barani.
- Understand more about Redfern Park.
- Read Paul Keating’s Redfern speech (PDF 65KB): Full transcript.
- View the First Nations Collections in the City's Archives
- Find out more about Bibles and Bullets.
Published 8 December 2017, updated 9 December 2022
