Peter Dutton vows to ban Aboriginal flag at press conferences

Peter Dutton has taken issue with the Aboriginal flag, vowing to ban them for one particular occasion because they are “divisive”.

Liberal leader Peter Dutton has declared he will not display the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander flags during press conferences if he is elected Prime Minister revealing he regards the practice of appearing before two flags “divisive.”

Three years ago, in his first press conference as Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese made a quiet statement by installing both the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags next to the Australian flag before embarking on the ill-fated referendum.

“We didn’t make a fuss, we didn’t put out a media release ... we just did it,” Mr Albanese said.

“We have flags that represent our entire nation. It’s an opportunity to speak about our full history.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton visits the Adass Israel Synagogue, meeting with members from the Jewish Community. Picture : NewsWire / Brendan Beckett

But now Mr Dutton has revealed he would never address the nation with both the Australian and Indigenous flags behind him at press conferences should he become prime minister, arguing that the practice “divides people unnecessarily”.

“I’m very strongly of the belief that we are a country united under one flag and if we’re asking people to identify with different flags, no other country does that, and we are dividing our country unnecessarily,” he told Sky News.

“We should have respect for the Indigenous flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag, but they are not our national flags.”

Mr Dutton has already adopted the practice of not standing in front of the Torres Strait Islander flag.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in font of the three flags at a press conference in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / David Beach

“The fact is that we should stand up for who we are, for our values, what we believe in,” he said.

“We are united as a country when we gather under one flag, which is what we should do on Australia Day.”

The Coalition’s Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has also called for the rolling back of Welcome to Country ceremonies.

“There are those right around the country, who basically their only role, their only source of income, is delivering Welcome to Country,” she said on Sky News on Sunday.

“This commercialisation of culture, which is exactly what is going on, I can understand there will be those that will be upset if we try to bring it to an end.”

Labor frontbencher Patrick Gorman, the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister had previously explained the significance of the change under Mr Albanese.

“When Anthony Albanese took to the podium for his first press conference as Prime Minister at Parliament House, he stood not in front of one flag, but three. The Australian national flag. The Australian Aboriginal flag. The Torres Strait Islander flag,’’ he said.

“To some, this change may have appeared insignificant.

“To others it instantly represented another step towards greater inclusion.

“On seeing all three flags behind the Prime Minister of Australia, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Linda Burney MP, got a lump in her throat.

“The thoughtfulness, the nod to respect (and) the inclusivity of the gesture was something everyone noticed and really appreciated,” she reflected.

“Some may say symbols don’t matter.

“But they do. Because symbols, however small, always represent something bigger.

“In this case, they represented renewal, a fresh start, and the Albanese Government’s deep desire to build stronger foundations with First Nations people.”