My name is Amber and my name is Sasha and we are here on behalf of Taree High School on this Australia Day of 2021.

As you all know the theme of this year is "Respect, reflect, celebrate. We are all part of the story." This is a mouth full, so let's break it down.

Respect. What is it? Well, like most millennials, we started off by asking Google; the official Cambridge dictionary defines it as, 'the feeling you show when you accept that different customs or cultures are different from your own and behave towards them in a way that would not cause offence.'

This is actually a pretty good definition, it accurately shows an incredibly important aspect of our multicultural society, because respect is the basis of a thriving, healthy and happy nation. As we uphold this as a societal value we lift up our nation and the people that call it home.

But, respect is not just individuals, on a community level we should speak up on issues that concern us.

We have seen this throughout the past decade; the rallying of equal rights and opportunities for women, the 'LGBTQI Marriage Act' and the incredibly important Black Lives Matter Movement.

As a community, we fight for what we believe is right and make changes to our society to ensure we create a fair and respectful world. We all have a voice and it's only by raising them together and listening to each other that we truly model respect.

Australia's giving and helpful nature defines our culture on the world's stage. Everyone struggles and you never know what someone else is going through; this is why it is so important to treat every person you meet with respect, because we are all going through life for the first time.

Enforcing this jovial spirit of helping others get back up when they are down and allowing people to rise from the ashes allows our nation to become a better place. We know this because we have seen it over the past year and a half; the fires, floods and a pandemic.

We have heard the words, unprecedented, unpredictable, scary and horrible over and over again. I know you're probably sick of it, but it is all true. No one ever expected we would have a year like we did, but no one ever expected a sense of community to rise like it never has before.

This unprecedented year allowed us to show our supportive spirit, our giving nature and our resilience that sets us apart from the rest of the world and truly defines us as being Australian; a nation of respectful and considerate individuals.

This was seen through the constant donation of money and food throughout the time of fires and floods. But it wasn't just physical, material items that really showed how giving we are. It was the consistent amount of time and effort the community put it to protect and support those in need and those struggling.

Even opening up their own homes and offering shelter to those with no place to go.

This is what it means to be Australian. This is what makes me proud to be Australian and continues to feed the spirit of our wonderful nation. Respect.

At Taree High the concept of respect is pretty close to our hearts as we save lives with our motto CPR; co-operation, participation and respect.

We are taught that respect is more than using please and thank you in the canteen line, it's about respect for yourself, others, the space you are in (a classroom, a cricket field or someone else's 1.5 meters of personal space), the land you stand on, the cultures that around us, including that of the Biripi nation and respect for our differences.

More than that, it is important to take our differences and embrace them as we realise they make our country stronger and more apt to dealing with change and adversity.

But, in its simplest form, respect is sharing your Vegemite sandwich with your mate when they forget their lunch and volunteering your weekends to a surf club.

It's not about raising your hand to speak, even though that's good, it's about really listening when someone else is speaking.

Now let's take a moment to reflect. To be honest we all know Australia isn't as picture perfect as it seems in the tourist ads.

We've had some serious scrapes, but while we reflect on them and try to reconcile our mistakes of the past, we have the special moment to realise how far we have come as a growing community and how far we have to go, and that's exciting.

Taree High has many chances to reflect, on a day to day basis as students learn the Gathang language, take Aboriginal Studies and elective language classes, which assists to sustain the indigenous culture and language of the Biripi land we meet on today. Because respect follows the easiest after we have learnt and reflected on our shared and individual past.

Especially on Australia Day it is critical to have these moments of individual and collective reflection. Where we recognise that this day marks the beginning of European involvement in our history, but more importantly it was and continues to be cared for by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders for thousands of years previously and many more years to come.

On this day we celebrate the beautiful people, the wide and spectacular landscapes, the kindness and mateship we strive to embed in our culture and the native wildlife that will kill with a single bite.

From the Biggest Oyster to the Pebbly Beach, from the Shark to the Dolphin, from Chinese takeaway to Bush tucka, from torrential downpours to sunburnt sand, but not faces and from us to you because we are all a part of one story, this story.

We may not have written the original, but we get to write the sequel, these are our pages that record our voices in one big story.

One Australia.

So, let's make it a bloody good one.