Ausflag's Petition to Federal Parliament
To the Honourable Members of the Parliament of Australia
- The present Australian national flag is not distinctively and uniquely Australian, is confused with other national flags and British ensigns and does not properly represent Australia as a sovereign, independent nation.
- Changing the Australian flag is not a constitutional matter and a referendum regarding such a question is quite inappropriate.
- The people of Australia were given the right to choose their national anthem by means of a plebiscite in 1977.
- The people of Australia have never been given the right to choose their national flag.
- There is no inherent link between Australia proclaiming a unique and distinctive national flag and the political issue of Australia moving to a republican form of government.
Your petitioners therefore request that the Honourable Members of the Australian Parliament will:
- Recognise and accept that the question of a new flag for Australia is not the most important item on the Parliament's immediate agenda. Nonetheless, recognise that the issue is, and will remain one of great national importance over the final years of this millennium.
- Accept and endorse the notion that the matter should be given multi-partisan and non-political support, whether the flag is finally to change or not, and therefore:
- Encourage and promote education and debate regarding the existing flag, flags in general (vexillology and heraldry) and encourage and promote the design of a possible future flag for Australia which will not include the Union Jack.
- Accept that this issue is not in any way anti-British, anti-monarchist or pro-republican.
- Recognise that the process should not be rushed and accept that if there is to be change, that the two focal points would be either the Olympic Games 2000 or the Centenary of Federation.
- Require that no new flag be proclaimed without a national plebiscite based on the precedent set in 1977 when Australians were given the choice of several tunes (including the old national anthem God Save the Queen).
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