01.19.06
Ernie Sigley Says We Should Change The Flag
Do we care what he says? Unlikely. I’d always thought the 3AW presenter was there to help people in nursing homes snooze in the afternoon, not discuss serious issues. Well today Ernie got serious. He also got ignorant.
The Australian flag should change he told his listeners. The Union Flag should be removed because he can’t understand what it’s doing there (how long has he lived in Australia?). What’s more it’s not unique. It should be replaced with a map of Australia. And something to do with Aboriginal colours should be thrown in as well. Of course, we could keep the southern cross. This is wholly unique according to Ernie - you can’t see the southern cross from anywhere else in the world. Not even New Zealand. He’s an avid astronomer you know!
So, disgusted with him for being so blatantly un-Australian, I shot off this e-mail;
Ernie,
I’m writing after hearing part of your discussion and call for a change to the Australian flag.
Before I turned off the radio in disgust I caught two major points;
The diggers fought for our country not the flag, and they fought at the request of England.
The Australian flag has been just that since 1901. And yes, they fought under that flag. Whether they fought for it was a matter for them to decide, but the flag represents this country so one could easily argue they fought for it. To prove they fought under it you only need to look at the Battle of Polygon Wood (Belgium) where the 18th Battalion AIF hoisted the Australian flag hoisted in 1917, and no one else’s.
And no, our diggers didn’t fight at the request of England. For a start in the First World War we fought with Britain. Not because we had to, we’d been an independent country since 1901, but because we viewed it (Australia’s politicians viewed it) as the right thing to do. We didn’t fight FOR Britain, we fought for the Empire, an Empire we were proudly a part of.
Changing the flag is nothing but being disrespectful to the memory of our diggers and it’s nothing but contemptuous for you to suggest otherwise.
Your other argument was that you think it’s hard to explain it to the kids. How exactly? I’m 22. I know what it’s doing there. They explain Captain Cook to you when you’re 5. You know Australia’s history, the significance of Britain in the development of Australia and the fact that our values (democracy, freedom, rule of law and so on) are all British values imparted to us by way of our Constitution in 1901. Frankly, if any kid (or anyone for that matter) can’t understand why the Union Flag is on our flag and doesn’t realise that it not only represents our British origins but the unity of the Australian states and our continuing values, then they’re just plain thick.
Hardly the best thing I’ve ever written, but the odds are he’ll never even read it anyway.
Tags: australia, australian+flag, australianflag
trueaustralian said,
January 19, 2006 at 3.14 pm
Despite probably being labelled as racist for saying so, I’ll say this anyway:
The aboriginal race has contributed little, if anything, to the culture and society Australia is now. They, in fact, don’t even want to be a part of western civilization and have always resisted it. Why then, should we include them in the Australian flag? Sure they’ve lived on this land; but the flag is related to the nation, not the land; and in wanting to remain seperate from this nation, in wanting to have their own flag, land, laws and culture, they do not represent what ‘Australia’ is. We shouldn’t get rid of our history in favour of political correctness towards the aboriginal minority.
aussie1 said,
July 27, 2006 at 3.27 pm
I think the Australian flag should be changed and Australia should become a republic so the queen isn’t running our country but she lives sooooooo far away
daniel said,
July 31, 2006 at 6.34 pm
You should check facts, the Queen does not run Australia. That’s not her role.