Peter Dutton has implied that only the Australian flag should be flown on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Earlier this week, Mr Dutton confirmed that if elected prime minister next year, he will only display the Australian flag at press conferences, claiming that displaying three flags is ‘dividing our country unnecessarily’.
During an appearance on Seven’s Sunrise, Mr Dutton was asked whether his stance on displaying the Aboriginal flag at press conferences also applied to flying it on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
‘My preference would be that we just, frankly, accept that we have one national flag,’ he said.
‘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.’
Australia should be ‘very proud of our Indigenous heritage,’ but Mr Dutton did not believe the country could be united under three flags, he said.
The Aboriginal flag permanently replaced the NSW state flag on the bridge in June 2022, after the NSW Government back-flipped on a $25 million plan to install a new pole for the flag.
After taxpayers baulked at the cost, then NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the money would be better spend on initiatives to close the gap for Indigenous Australians.
The Aboriginal flag permanently replaced the NSW state flag on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in June 2022
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he would only stand in front of the Australian flag when addressing the country if elected as prime minister
Anthony Albanese has displayed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags alongside the Australian flag at press conferences since he became prime minister in 2022.
Only the Australian flag was shown before Mr Albanese secured the top job.
‘We didn’t make a fuss, we didn’t put out a media release … we just did it,’ Mr Albanese said at the time, before the failed Voice to Parliament referendum.
‘We have flags that represent our entire nation. It’s an opportunity to speak about our full history.’
However, Mr Dutton on Monday called out the move and revealed he would never address the nation with both the Australian and Indigenous flags behind him, arguing that it sent a confusing message.
On Wednesday, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson went even further, telling Sky News Australia that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags should be removed from Parliament House.
‘I think it’s wrong and it should not be allowed,’ Ms Hanson said.
‘We are one flag, one nation and one people and that’s how it should be.’
