We need to talk about the Australian flag and how it’s being hijacked by extremists
Our flag has been hiijacked and it’s about time Aussies start respecting what it represents.
OPINION
The Australian flag can draw mixed reviews depending on who you talk to, with some keen for the Union Jack to go while others are fiercely fond of it as is.
Regardless of the aesthetics, I think we can all agree on one thing: our flag represents the hard-fought freedoms that make us the great nation of opportunity we are.
It is rightly viewed as a sacred symbol, unfurled at ceremonies and memorials and raised at major national events. It evokes a sense of reflective pride and hope.
So with that said, please take the bloody flag off of your shoulders when you’re screaming obscenities, flipping the bird or brawling in the streets.
You should especially remove it from your disgusting person when throwing up Nazi salutes.
Australian diggers lost their lives in World War II battling those murderous Nazi monsters who scarred the earth.
To those morons who invoked that barbaric legacy, which exterminated several million innocent people, shame on you.
The flag is not a cape for you to don while pandering to your insecurities and shortcomings.
It is not an item of clothing to be wrapped or draped around yourselves, dragged on the dirty grass as you scuffle with your ideological opponents at a public beach, and tossed to the side while you throw your rigid arm in the air.
There are strict rules about how you should handle the flag and many of those at the extreme right-wing rally in Melbourne at the weekend broke almost all of them.
Those rules state that the flag should be handled carefully and with dignity at all times, only used on special, symbolic and memorial occasions.
It should be raised in a certain way. It should be removed in a certain way. It should be stored and maintained in certain ways.
You should never, ever use the Australian flag as a form apparel, nor should you use it in a manner that will permit it to be easily torn, soiled or damaged in any way.
The flag should not be allowed to fall or lie on the ground.
When you disrespect it in such a disgraceful manner, like we saw on Saturday, you might as well burn it.
Set it alight and watch it turn into ash.
If you want to bleat about protecting and saving this great country from whatever it is you fear, you can’t have it both ways.
You can’t talk about respect while denigrating the flag. You can’t talk about Aussie values while spitting on the graves of Anzacs.
Take the bloody flag off — my flag, our flag. You don’t deserve to touch it.
Don’t throw on some two-dollar shop singlet, probably made in China by people who earn sweatshop wages, with our flag on the back, while carrying on like an embarrassment.
It doesn’t matter what you believe. It doesn’t matter where you stand on immigration. I don’t care if you’re left, right or in between.
Wrong is wrong.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t stand for something and excuse or ignore things that aren’t right just because they hurt your argument.
If you do, you don’t really stand for anything. And you should just stay home.
Join the conversation
Major update on school phone ban
It’s been one year since phones were banned in schools and teachers have now revealed whether the tactic has been beneficial in improving children’s behaviour.
Read more
Hundreds evacuated on fear of wall collapse
Hundreds of schoolchildren and residents of a large apartment block have been evacuated after a retaining wall sparked concerns it could collapse.
Read more
ASX climbs to new record high
Australia’s sharemarket continued its rally higher on Friday as traders factored in a more reserved Donald Trump on US tariffs.
Read more