Flag debate hits new heights at Onkaparinga Council

Should the Australian flag fly higher than the indigenous flag? Or should they flutter side-by-side? A council in Adelaide has just had this debate. VOTE IN OUR POLL

Onkaparinga Council is debating adjusting it’s flag pole heights so the indigenous and Australian flags fly at the same height. supplied

Onkaparinga Council has flagged its intent to change the height of some its flag poles — all in the spirit of reconciliation.

The council last night voted in favour of altering the height of three of its flag poles following a suggestion by senior Kaurna woman Georgina Williams.

Ms Williams had asked the council to consider adjusting the heights of the poles where the Aboriginal flag flew lower than that of its Australian counterpart.

The council has flown the Aboriginal flag alongside the Australian flag and its own flag at its Noarlunga Centre offices and its field operations centre at Seaford Meadows since 2006.

At both locations, the council and Aboriginal flags fly at a lower height to that of the Australian flag, which is at the centre of the three.

The council also flies the Australian and Aboriginal flags — again at different heights — on the roundabout at the intersection of Murray Rd and Saltfleet St, Port Noarlunga.

“At the 2018 NAIDOC Mayor’s Reception event, senior Kaurna woman Georgina Williams handed (then) Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg a letter in which she requests that the Australian and Aboriginal flags be flown at equal heights in recognition of our reconciliation and joining to walk together into the future,” a report presented to the council’s Strategic Directions Committee stated.

“This request has since been echoed by other Kaurna community members, namely Buster Turner and Corey Turner, and is aligned with the practice of our neighbouring councils.”

The council said the decision to fly the Australian flag higher than its Aboriginal counterpart followed official Australian flag protocols which required the national flag to be “given precedence when flown in a set with other flags”. “This is described as the ‘position of honour’,” the council report said.

The report also noted the Australian and Aboriginal flags at neighbouring Marion, Mitcham, Alexandrina and Yankalilla councils all flew at equal heights.

It would cost the council $4500 to lower the flag poles, including “the costs of a specialist flag pole contractor” and traffic management costs.

The Australian flag will also be relocated from the centre to the left, when viewed from the north, and the Aboriginal flag moved to the centre spot, at the council chambers and the Seaford Meadows site.