Quote of the month!
December 2000
Flag Fall
"T.S. McKay (Letters, October 31) makes a similar observation to one I made while watching the Olympics. His conclusion is not logical, however. Many symbols for Australia were evident. They included our Australian flag, the boxing kangaroo, the Aboriginal flag, and faces painted in green and gold as well as red, white and blue.
Certainly "our present flag has served us well". Nevertheless, it is painfully obvious that it is no longer fulfilling its role, and a new design must be found to unify all Australians. A flag incorporating green and gold along with the Southern Cross would be marvellous. "
Frank Maundrell, Tamworth, NSW
Letter to the Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 3 November 2000.
November 2000
Dream On, Prime Minister
At the close of the best Olympics ever, John Howard, temporarily Australia's Prime Minister, said that the Games had "put back the cause of those who want to change the flag by a generation." Newspapers around the country were inundated with letters from passionate Aussies proving the Prime Minister wrong. Here's one of many:
" The Sydney Olympics have been a success because they have showcased contemporary Australia, our culture and its uniqueness. A unique people, a unique city; a unique nation! The exception is our flag. It is a cheap relic of the past that sends all the wrong signals to our people and our overseas visitors. Like our head of state, our flag should be unambiguously Australian.
The Union Jack, with Southern Cross attached, has had more PR and prime time than anything else in these Games; a billion dollar sponsorship package for free; but you can't sell a lemon. And watch the polls post closing ceremony. Close to half this country will still think it stinks! Want proof? Just look at how the Boxing Kangaroo more than matches the number of "Australian" flags at most events. "
Andrew Parker, Yarralumla, ACT
Letter to the Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 29 September 2000.
October 2000
Olympic Confusion
We've held the best Olympics ever, but our international visitors weren't the only ones confused about our misleading and unrecognisable flag:
"Mistaken identity at the gymnastics finals when a mother and her 20-something daughter discovered they'd been waving the wrong flag. After a week spent clutching their Aussie ensign at various events, they sat next to a New Zealander and learnt the terrible truth. 'You've got a kiwi flag,' he noticed. 'No we haven't,' they replied. Yes they had."
The Sydney Morning Herald, "Tales of the Olympic City",
Olympics News and Essentials, Day 13, Thursday 28 September 2000, p.22.
September 2000
Kerry Flunks Flag Test
Last year we had Australian monarchists defending the flag of New Zealand, and now Kerry Jones, rabid monarchist and supporter of all things British, raves about a flag that doesn't even exist! Kerry Jones has lost all credibility in defending the current Australian flag - she doesn't even know what's on it!
" The Australian flag is, I believe, the best in the world. The seven-pointer (sic) star symbolises our federation of six states and territories. Our geographic position in the world is shown by the stars of the Milky Way. "
Kerry Jones, Executive Director, Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy, The Sunday Age, Sunday 20 August 2000.
August 2000
Jack Of It
" It's worth the red eyes to see so many Australians in such late rounds at Wimbledon. Only one jarring note - the supporters waving the flag whose most obvious feature is the Union Jack.
How irrelevant can a symbol get? And now we have to look forward to seeing any successes our athletes score at the Olympics wrapped up in the same outdated packaging. Bring on the green and gold!"
Alex Jones, Kirribilli, NSW
Letter to the Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 11 July 2000.
July 2000
Australia should fly two flags
NSW's first indigenous Senator, Aden Ridgeway, has called for all Australians to fly the Aboriginal Flag:
" Australians should fly it not just as part of Aboriginal identity, but as part of the Australian identity. It symbolises the strength of the indigenous people and their struggle which has never been resolved as part of the national psyche. It is a challenge to the nation and to the Government to do better. "
The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 4 July 2000, p.2.
June 2000
Australian Flag a Dud
The current Australian flag is such an ambiguous symbol of our nationhood, is so uninspiring, and is so divisive, that the Australian Olympic Committee doesn't want it to be used by fans at the upcoming Sydney Olympic Games:
" Olympic sports fans have been urged to use the boxing kangaroo as the team symbol of the Sydney Games instead of the Australian flag. The icon is set for a resurgence this month when the Australian Olympic Committee launches nationwide sales of the battle flag.
But the Australian National Flag Association has objected to the move and called for Olympic spectators to stick with the official version. AOC marketing director Peter Cracknell said it hoped thousands would carry the banners."
The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 24 May 2000, p.14.
May 2000
Hoisted by her own petard
Regular correspondent S.A. Miller of Kirribilli, NSW, recently complained that North Sydney Council was being disrespectful to the Queen during her visit by not flying the Union Jack. Oops!!
" SA Millar (Letters 23/3/00 - Insult to Queen) should check her facts. It is obvious that this "closet pom" has no knowledge of Australian protocol, history, heraldry or vexillology. She is utterly wrong in suggesting that Councils should fly the Union Jack during the Queen's visit. Her Majesty The Queen is visiting Australia in her capacity as Queen of Australia and as such the Australian National Flag is the proper flag to fly in her honour. The Union Jack is a foreign flag and has no greater status than any other foreign flag. "
Harold Scruby, Ausflag Executive Director,
Letter to the Editor, The Mosman Daily, 30 March 2000.
April 2000
World's most unpopular flag?
" The Howard Government, by alterations to the Flags Act, has gone to extraordinary lengths to make the inevitable transition to a TOTALLY Australian National Flag as difficult as possible. This despite the fact that the British-Australian flag was never voted in as the national flag at either a plebiscite or referendum, was the flag of second choice in Australia - deferring to the British Union Jack between 1901-1949 - and has never gained a 99% approval rating as have the national flags of most other countries, including Great Britain, the USA, etc. At the moment it is struggling to gain a 50% approval rating. "
George Poulos, Dover Heights, NSW
Letter to the Editor, The Sun-Herald, 19 March 2000, p.80.
March 2000
Don't Mention the Flag
Peter FitzSimons, former rugby international for Australia and supporter of a new Australian flag, made this observation in the context of the Queen's Australian tour:
" Don't ask why our flag has her homeland's flag on it, up there in the corner. For there is no reasonable answer. It's just one of those teddible, teddible things that really doesn't bear talking about. "
The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 March 2000, p.17.
February 2000
A Burning Issue
On Australia Day this year, a group of Aboriginal Australians burnt the current Australian flag in protest at the dispossession it represents in having the Union Jack in the corner. This action brought condemnation as well as support:
"Robert S. Buick and Jim Sutherland (Letters, January 28) are upset that Aboriginal protesters should have burnt the "Australian" flag. How else would they expect Aborigines to react to a flag incorporating Britain's Union Jack, the symbol of their dispossession and colonisation?
"As for Mr. Sutherland's ludicrous talk of treason, I myself, an Australian of several generations' standing, feel no loyalty whatsoever to this British ensign. And please, no talk of forefathers fighting beneath it. Mine fought too, for Australia. We need a flag that fairly represents us all. "
S.B. Murphy, Rushcutters Bay, NSW
Letter to the Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 February 2000.
January 2000
The New Millennium
"It is quite bizarre that in the third millennium, this sophisticated, intelligent, multicultural island continent still embraces a flag that the rest of the world sees as representing some sort of subordinate British branch office. A colonial relic reflecting a child still clinging desperately to its mother's breast. Furthermore, how can we honestly boast that we have achieved reconciliation with our indigenous people, when the symbol, which to them represents oppression, genocide and invasion, still dominates our flag? "
Harold Scruby, No one will salute it if you don't run it up the flagpole, The Australian, 26 January 2000, p.13
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