John Howard is a politician in touch. He is in touch with the views of some red-necks who call in to the worst talk-back radio shows. He does not appear to be in touch with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander opinion, nor the opinion of the bulk of mainstream Australia on the question of official recognition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.
The objection raised by Mr Howard is that the recognition is a “divisive gesture”. Nonsense. Only those people already irrationally ill-disposed to indigenous aspirations are going to find offence in giving recognition to the flags. In the short term it might add a tad of bitterness to a few people who are already embittered. That is a very small price to pay for the enhanced self-esteem the move will give to indigenous people and the value to both indigenous and non-indigenous people from the act of reconciliation.
Tragically, some of that value has been eroded by Mr Howard’s comments. He must carry most of the blame for that. But some of the blame must go to the Government. It did not consult with the other political parties or with the states and territories. Rather it used executive power under the Flags Act to proclaim the two indigenous flags as flags of Australia.
It would have been better for the Parliament to have adopted the flags in legislation. It would have given the Opposition a chance to gauge opinion and would probably have resulted in a better approach. A quick change to the regulations by the Government, however, was bound to result in knee-jerk reactions. The point about a legislative approach is that it can only be undone by legislation. The regulation can be undone by ministerial action. The Australian Flag and the Red Ensign are recognised in the Act itself and cannot be changed by ministerial decree _ only by consent of the Parliament.
If anything, Mr Howard should have objected to the way the recognition was given, not to the fact of it. He should have argued that the two indigenous flags required legislative status like the Australian flag.
In any event it is sad that what should have been a united recognition of the flags has become the subject of petty party politics.
The two indigenous flags deserve recognition. They are both Australian. They both represent significant, identifiably parts of Australian society in the same way as a state or territory, albeit ones with a heritage rather than geographic base. The Aboriginal flag and to a lesser extent the Torres Strait Islander flag are instantly recognisable and acknowledged. It is better to include and incorporate them into mainstream Australian society legally as well as in fact.
Indeed, there may be some secret jealousy among those who oppose legal recognition of the flags. The flags are not only flown, but also worn, with pride among Aboriginal and Torres Islanders and universally accepted by them, in a way that the Australian flag does not enjoy. A large number of Australians see the Union Jack _ which takes a quarter of the flag _ as no longer relevant, unrepresentative or an unsuitable symbol of Australian nationhood. Others view the present flag with enormous pride.