Victorian council moves to quell backlash after school flyer excludes Australian flag in favour of Pride

A big call has been made on the use of the Australian flag after a controversial school flyer sparked outrage.

A Victorian council has voted to strip its own bureaucrats of the ability to choose flags on printed materials after a school flyer showing only the Pride Progress, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags sparked outrage in the community.

Mornington Peninsula Shire Council voted 9-1 on Tuesday night to reiterate that the Australian national flag should be displayed “in the highest position of honour” in all circumstances.

Councillor Bruce Ranken brought the urgent motion after a flyer urging residents to register for kindergarten “understandably raised concerns amongst many members of the community”.

An image of the flyer went viral after it was shared on social media on Monday.

“Now it appears the MPSC only acknowledges the gay, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities as evidenced by eliminating the Australian flag (which represents us all), from official paperwork,” one local wrote.

“Does that mean the rest of us are exempt from rates?”

The kindergarten flyer sparked outrage on social media. Picture: Facebook

Cr Ranken told Tuesday’s meeting that the flyer “does not sit within policy”.

“This needs to be addressed swiftly, quickly to be able to show the community we can act upon these items fairly quickly,” he said.

“As this steps [outside] of our policy currently I felt the need to be able to bring it into the chamber to be able to debate it and show the community this is not good enough, that we need to bring the policy in line and that it needs to be a councillor policy.”

Cr Ranken’s motion called on council to “[affirm] the Australian national flag as the primary and pre-eminent flag to be flown on all Mornington Peninsula Shire Council buildings, sites and events where flags are displayed” and requested the chief executive to “review current flag protocols across Council-managed properties and ensure that the Australian national flag is displayed in the highest position of honour in accordance with Commonwealth protocols and the Flags Act 1953”.

The motion stated that “flag policy is now a councillor policy” and “with immediate effect the Australian national flag is to be the most prominent flag displayed whenever a flag is shown”, and called for a revised council flag policy to be brought to a future council meeting within 60 days.

Council CEO Mark Stoermer backed the change, telling the meeting “the issue is that the current policy addresses flags and flag poles quite clearly but it doesn’t deal with printed media … I’ve looked at the policy and it isn’t specific enough”.

Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor Bruce Ranken. Picture: YouTube

Cr Ranken said while he believed the flyer was “likely an oversight [rather] than intentional, it highlights the need for clear guidelines and boundaries around how council as an institution chooses to represent itself and our community through the display of flags”.

“It is not about excluding other flags … our current flag policy rightly includes and respects other flags,” he said.

“These flags respect our community’s diversity, identity and pride and they have a rightful place in our civic places. But the … Australian national flag must sit at the top. By making this a councillor policy council takes ownership and responsibility.”

Cr Kate Roper said she was “not sure” why any flags were put on the kindergarten flyer at all, “but that was an unfortunate oversight”.

Deputy Mayor Paul Pingiaro said the flag was “not just about a symbol but what unites us and the story it represents”.

“I’m a descendant from two Anzacs,” he said. “At the time they served under the Union Jack, but make no mistake, they fought for Australia. This sacrifice should never be forgotten.”

Cr David Gill supported the motion but urged against “nationalistic” pride.

“We go too far sometimes,” he said.

“We support Australia, we support the Australian flag [but] it’s not unifying to go too far on these issues. We should recognise there are differences. My view is that the Australian flag is our flag and I support it as it is — I would support it more happily if it was not a Union Jack flag but that’s a personal opinion.”

Cr Max Patton, the only councillor to vote against, said he hadn’t had enough time to review the existing flag policy and was “concerned about unintended consequences”.

Conservative think tank the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) shared new polling data on Thursday showing an overwhelming majority supported the Australian flag.

The flag is ‘not just about a symbol but what unites us and the story it represents’. Picture: Supplied

“More than 70 per cent of Australians back our flag and believe it unites us, and almost two-thirds reject the divisive push to hide our national flag and replace it with others such as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags as national symbols,” IPA deputy executive director Daniel Wild said in a statement.

The survey, conducted by market research firm Dynata, found 71 per cent of Australians believe the national flag unites us (13 per cent disagree), 77 per cent are proud of the flag (7 per cent disagree), 75 per cent believe we should keep the flag (10 per cent disagree), and 61 per cent believe we should have only one flag, versus 29 per cent who believe we should have three, including the Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander flags.

“Over 70 per cent of Australians are proud of our National Flag, believe it unites all Australians, and support retaining our current flag,” Mr Wild said.

“This support was shared among men and women, and across all age groups.”

Mr Wild commended the Morning Peninsula Shire councillors who voted to support the flag.

“The Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors who voted to support our flag should be congratulated for taking this commonsense decision,” he said.

“Leaders throughout the country should look at this decision as an unmissable opportunity to promote social cohesion and national pride by respecting our flag.”

Every age group supported retaining one national flag over three, although support was weakest among those aged 18 to 24.

“The Australian flag is our most inclusive flag as it represents our entire nation and every Australian, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or gender,” Mr Wild said.

“The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags have an important place in our society, but Australia has only one national flag. Australians have had a gutful of the elites and political class trying to divide us along racial grounds.”

The IPA survey also found nearly three quarters of Australians believe the national anthem should be sung at school assemblies, with just 8 per cent disagreeing.

“At a time when social cohesion is disintegrating across the nation, mainstream Australians understand that our symbols are unifying, and should be cherished and celebrated at all times,” Mr Wild said. “After all, there is far more that unites Australians than divides us.”

Originally published as Victorian council moves to quell backlash after school flyer excludes Australian flag in favour of Pride