4 September 2022

By Brett Manning, Trustee of the New Aussie Constitution Trust

The draft New Aussie Constitution is a proposed replacement for the current Australian Constitution that has been developed independently of government. Please visit the New Aussie Constitution Trust website listed www.newaussieconstitution.com.au for more information.

When we fly the indigenous flag front and centre at national press conferences or organise to have it fly permanently above the Sydney Harbour bridge, we might be showing respect to First Nations people but we are also treating a symptom rather than facing up to addressing the cause of national conundrum.

Now I totally get why the government has adopted this new approach but we need to remember that when the Australian Prime Minister or senior Commonwealth Ministers stand up to the national podium, the message they are sending is often not only for domestic consumption. It is often a message to other national governments and the world. It will often be carried by international news outlets to an international audience. Having multiple national flags sends a message of a nation divided and this undermines the important messages that the Commonwealth government is sending to the international community.

People outside Australia do not necessarily understand the nuances of our history. In fact many of the world’s population would be flat out telling the difference between Australia and New Zealand, and some wouldn’t even be able to point out Australia on a map. I also understand that the flags have to hang in order of seniority from left to right but again all that does is put the indigenous flag immediately behind the Prime Minister’s head in the close up camera shots, surely bewildering some in the world even further.

I’m not saying this new practice is not the appropriate action in the current circumstances but surely this divisive, mix messaging cannot be how we proceed in the future. We are ‘closing the gap’ in Australia. We are reconciling our history and bringing indigenous and non-indigenous Australians into a unified co-existence. I have seen massive change in my lifetime on this front. While there is still more to do, the barriers are falling and young indigenous children are growing up in an Australia of great opportunity, on par with their non-indigenous peers in ways we have never experienced before. However, in my opinion, the Australian flag and the indigenous flags remain the elephant in the room.

We need some truth telling now. Australians need to accept that while the Australian flag retains the Union Jack in the corner it represents repression, loss of land and loss of heritage to many indigenous Australians. This isn’t about revisionist history or cancel culture. This is about having a national flag that all Australians can rally behind going forward into our shared future. Likewise, telling the truth, having the indigenous flag front and centre at national press conferences is only representing 3% of the population and it is doing that with a flag that is a symbol of struggle, repression and the fight indigenous Australians have had to endure since colonisation by Great Britain. The indigenous flag is deeply important to most indigenous Australians but just like the current Australian national flag, it is not a flag of unity for all Australian citizens.

Now while I love the current Australian flag and I acknowledge that generations of Australians, both non-indigenous and indigenous have fought and died under it or represented their country proudly on the international stage under the current flag, the time has come to look for a unified future with one national flag on our national podium. A flag that represents all Australians from traditional indigenous Australians, new indigenous Australians, to our latest naturalised Australians who have just taken their oath of allegiance.

I’m not advocating an end to the use of the indigenous flag and I’m not even advocating an end to the flying of the current Australian flag by those who want too. I am respectfully suggesting it is time our national government had a single unifying symbol to fly on the world stage.

In the proposed draft ‘New Aussie Constitution’ the following flag is proposed to be the country’s new national flag. If you want to know more about why this particular flag is proposed, then have a read of one of our earlier blogs by clicking this [Link]

This particular design was developed by a Mr Brett Moxey as part of a competition run for a new Australian flag many years back. To me, this flag represents what unites us, the southern land itself. The Southern Cross, the green and gold of our land and beaches and the blue of our clean skies.

So the aim of this change is to create a flag that all Australians can get behind, that is forward looking and captures the essence of a modern Australia. However, like all aspects of the proposed draft New Aussie Constitution, whether to change the flag and what to change it too, remains open for consultation and discussion.

If you want to learn more about the proposed draft New Aussie Constitution, take a moment to look around the website or you can throw your support behind the not-for-profit New Aussie Constitution Trust by liking and sharing this Blog. Please feel free to comment or email us directly because this draft is very much a consultative process, where we want to hear from as many Australians as possible.

Did you know that the Australian national flag can only be changed by a referendum and that one of the possible options for the referendum must be to retain the current Australian flag. This legislative requirement will ensure that if Australians choose to change our national flag, it will be a true majority decision.