Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have pleasure in speaking to this motion moved by the honourable member for Stirling, coming as it does to mark the 120th anniversary of the first flying of the Australian flag on the exhibition buildings in Melbourne, where the Australian parliament sat from 1901 until the Old Parliament House was built here in Canberra, on the 25th anniversary of the proclamation of 3 September as Australian National Flag Day.

One of the more pleasant duties I have as a member of parliament—at least in the time prior to COVID—is to present an Australian flag to various organisations within my electorate—often primary schools but also aged-care homes, service clubs and a variety of others, including more recently kindergartens and childcare centres. Just a few months ago I was able to present a flag to one of the childcare centres in my electorate. I was amazed at the knowledge that these four-year-olds had about the Australian flag. In presenting the flag, I usually get the children to hold up the flag and then I ask them questions about what it means. I have found—and I find this regularly—that young children, including those in preschool but particularly those in primary school, know a great deal about the Australian flag.

The Australian flag represents three things, in a sense: our heritage, our place as the great southern land and our federation. Our heritage is represented in the Union Jack, itself a combination of the flags of England, Scotland and Ireland—the cross of St George, the cross of St Andrew and the cross of St Patrick brought together in an amalgamation which goes back to 1606 to form the Union Jack. That was made official by royal proclamation in 1801. As I said, it represents our heritage in that it represents the European establishment here in Australia following the discoveries of the early explorers with Captain James Cook and then the settlement with Captain Arthur Phillip. Secondly, the flag represents our place as the great southern land, the great southern continent of the Southern Hemisphere. That is represented by the constellation of the Southern Cross, which can be seen only in the Southern Hemisphere, not in the Northern Hemisphere, of this globe. Thirdly, the flag represents our federation, because that large Commonwealth star which is placed on the flag below the Union Jack represents the coming together of the former colonies in the Federation and the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia.

As I said, I find that primary school students often know all these things when I ask them about the flag. It shows a degree of knowledge and indeed a degree of pride in the Australian flag—and of course we should have that pride in the Australian flag. Each Australia Day, when I present local community Australia Day awards, I present to one of the organisations in my electorate a flag which is flown here in this chamber, which you present, Mr Speaker, as Speaker, to each member of parliament to provide to community organisations. I continue to be amazed, when I nominate an organisation each year to come and receive the Australian flag on Australia Day—one that is flown here, with an appropriate certificate to indicate that—by how much pride there is by those organisations in the flag.

This is a flag which has marked our times of mourning and our times of celebration. As we recall the terrible events of the last few days in Afghanistan, we can also recall that our flag has been proudly taken into battle and places of conflict on the tunics and uniforms of the Australian defence forces. It's the same flag which draped the coffins of those 41 brave Australians who lost their lives in Afghanistan, and other Australians in other conflicts around the world over the decades. It's the flag which is flown at half-mast on Anzac Day, Remembrance Day and other days of national military significance. But it's also the flag of celebration. It's the flag that we see raised above the Paralympics; the flag we saw raised above the Olympics. The Australian flag: a flag for all of us which is used, as I said, on times of mourning and times of celebration. It's our national flag; may it continue to be so.

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