Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has already made known his stance on the country’s leader using three flags for official events, and has hinted at his preference against flying the national and Aboriginal flag on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
On Dec. 12, Dutton said the decision ultimately lay with the New South Wales government.
“We'll work with the state governments and obviously the state government has made a decision to put the flag up there but for us, at a federal level, I’m not going to pretend that our country can be united when we’re asking people to identify in different ways,” he told Channel 7’s Sunrise program.
“I think it’s an issue for the state government, my preference would be to accept that we have one national flag and that’s the priority, but ultimately it’s a decision for the New South Wales government.”
Dutton stressed the importance of unity, saying Australia was experiencing a break down in social cohesion.
“The argument is, how can you be united as a country if we’re asking people to identify under different flags?” he said.
“No other country does that, no other Western democracy does that, so I believe very strongly that we should have an enormous amount of respect for the Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander flags, but they are not our national flag and I want practical reconciliation.”
“I want kids in Alice Springs to live in a safe environment, to have a good health system and go to school.”
This would overturn the current practice by Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who stands before three flags—the national, Aboriginal, and Torres Strait Islander flags—during official press conferences.
“To some, this change may have appeared insignificant. To others it instantly represented another step towards greater inclusion,” said the assistant minister to the prime minister, Patrick Gorman.
“A reminder of where we are as a nation, and where we can walk to together,” Gorman wrote in the West Australian newspaper.
Meanwhile, Dutton also called for stamping out division in society.
“We have an incredible migrant story in this country, we should be talking more about it,” he said. “We should be very proud of our Indigenous heritage, but I don’t believe that serving under three flags can unite the country.”
Polling Challenges
Dutton’s call for social cohesion comes as Prime Minister Albanese endures tougher polling results.The latest Newspoll results this week showed Albanese had the lowest rating of an incumbent Australian prime minister in the poll’s 16-year history, with social unrest being a key factor.
Meanwhile, Dutton’s Newspoll ranking was the highest of any opposition leader in a decade.
However, despite Albanese’s low ranking, the poll still rates him as the more popular leader compared to Dutton.
