Talking Point: Flag decision flies in the face of push for greater reconciliation

Six councillors’ vote against flying the Aboriginal flag at their council chambers flies in the face of the Premier’s goal of greater understanding, writes GREG BARNS.

THE Australian Aboriginal flag is flown across Australia at public buildings, parks and monuments. It represents a small, but significant step in the evolving reconciliation process between this nation’s First Peoples and the European invaders.

But six local government representatives at Clarence City Council don’t like the idea. Last week they voted against flying the Aboriginal flag at the council chambers.

The six who voted against a motion to fly the flag caused the motion to fail because the vote was tied. So who are the six? Disappointingly they include the Mayor Doug Chipman. The others named in the no column are von Bertouch, Walker, James, Ewington and Blomeley. You might care to remember them when you vote at the next council election. Mr Chipman seems to have forgotten what he said in 2017 when commenting on a reconciliation event taking place in his borough. “It is important for Council to recognise these significant milestones and build a pathway that continues to value the Aboriginal people as the original inhabitants of our land,” he said. How does it value Aboriginal people to refuse to fly a symbol of their heritage and culture?

What could have possessed these people to vote against joining thousands of other public institutions across Australia that fly the Aboriginal flag? While it is not suggested that any of these councillors is a racist, their act could be interpreted that way by some in the community.

Clarence mayor Doug Chipman in front of the flagpoles outside the council's chambers. Picture: Luke Bowden

Kamilaroi woman Cheree Toka, who has been campaigning to have the Aboriginal flag flown permanently on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, told SBS earlier this year that opposition to the flag flying permanently is “racism”. “What else can it be?”

Ms Toka makes a very good point. One does not have to be a racist to unconsciously commit acts of racism.

One possible answer is racially based bias. Such bias was famously, or infamously, exposed by research published in the American Economic Review in 2014 which found that “Job applicants with African-American names get far fewer callbacks for each resume they send out. Equally importantly, applicants with African-American names find it hard to overcome this hurdle in callbacks by improving their observable skills or credentials.” Perhaps the six councillors might like to ask themselves whether they would have taken the same decision if the proposal was to fly the flag of the colonial master, the UK?

But what does it tell us about the state of genuine reconciliation in Tasmania when we still have politicians who think it’s OK to do this?

An Aboriginal flag flies over Black Lives Matter protest march. Picture: Scott Powick

Whatever the reason for their vote, the decision by Clarence council to refuse to fly the Aboriginal flag should not be left unchallenged. At the state level all political parties have, for almost three decades now, committed themselves to at least in some small form to accounting for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the colonial administrations that ruled this island in the 19th century. There is much work to do and the failure of governments to continue to hand back land, a signature reform of the Groom government in the 1990s, is appalling. However in February this year Premier Peter Gutwein, when attending the Takara Waranta Walk With Us cultural event, promised greater effort. “This coming together of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people is part of the ongoing journey of respect, understanding and reconciliation,” Mr Gutwein said.

Mr Gutwein’s Aboriginal Affairs minister Roger Jaensch, a man who desperately needs to show leadership and courage, should be condemning the Clarence council’s decision and making the point that it flies in the face of Mr Gutwein’s ambition for greater understanding and reconciliation. Perhaps Mr Gutwein and Mr Jaensch could educate these six councillors who voted no last week on the damage their action does to bringing together First Nations Tasmanians and the non-Indigenous community.

One final observation. What does it say about Tasmania that in 2020 First Nations people are still humiliated and disrespected by elected representatives? Or have these councillors signed their political death warrant by their actions.

Hobart barrister Greg Barns SC is a human rights lawyer.