Dozens of Aboriginal flags planted outside Clarence City Council chambers in protest
Dozens of Aboriginal flags have appeared outside Clarence City Council’s chambers after its controversial decision not to fly a First Nations flag earlier this month.
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- Debate erupts over flying Aboriginal flag outside council
- Flag decision flies in the face of reconciliation
AN ACT of defiance against a controversial council decision has resulted in dozens of Aboriginal flags being planted outside a Tasmanian council chamber.
About 30 flags dotted the lawns in front of the Clarence City Council chambers on Friday, with mystery surrounding who was behind the act.
The move is believed to be in response to an unsuccessful motion by Alderman Beth Warren on October 12 for the council to fly the Aboriginal flag permanently on one of its four flagpoles outside the Rosny chambers from NAIDOC week in November.
The motion was lost with a 6-6 tied vote.
Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre CEO Heather Sculthorpe said she was unaware who planted the flags, but was thrilled that people were taking action.
“It’s fantastic that the community is coming together to show outrage about this without the Aboriginal community having to do it all,” she said.
“What a great symbolic effort. We know there are people out there that are trying to express that sentiment that this is wrong.”
She said it had been depressing watching on as the council debated whether or not to fly the flag.
“The fact that it was equal numbers is great, but some of the reasoning was just so perverted,” she said.
She praised those behind the act.
“How good is this! Well done to you. It’s something we might have done three decades ago.”
Mayor Doug Chipman, who voted against the motion, said they noticed the flags on Friday morning.
“I thought it was a lovely, innovative idea,” he said.
“Council wasn’t opposed to flying the flag, it was that we wanted to celebrate the occasion with a nice ceremony.”
Ald Chipman said the council would be discussing the issue at their workshop on Monday.
“We’ll be talking to Reconciliation Tasmania about the best way to move forward,” he said.
Alderman Tony Mulder, who voted for the motion, was also unsure who was behind the act.
“I commend members of the community for delivering the message that the council needs to fly the Aboriginal flag,” he said.
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