James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is disappointing that MPs from the Greens choose not to fly our Australian flag. The new member for Ryan, Elizabeth Watson-Brown, has one of our country's largest Army barracks in her electorate, yet she refuses to fly our flag. In doing so, she brings shame to this parliament, she brings shame to the memory of all those who have served and died under our flag and she shames the families who mourn. I wonder what those who serve at the Enoggera Army barracks think of her childish antics, along with all those in Ryan who love and respect our country, because, when we think about symbols of national pride—symbols which we can unite behind, symbols under which our country men and women have fought, symbols which galvanise us as one Australian people—our flag is front and centre.

It has been and will always be a shared symbol of national pride and unity, one which we all know and love and respect. We fly our great flag in this chamber to remind us of the people we serve. We fly our flag at schools to remind the next generation of what it means to be Australian. We fly our flags at RSLs out of respect for those who have fought and died to protect the freedoms that we so willingly use today. I fly the flag at home in Warwick because I love this country. Shame upon these Greens, upon these leftists who hate Australia and hate the freedoms that we all enjoy so much today, because this flag represents the great Australian dream: freedom and democracy.

Our flag is sacred. Our flag is cherished. It is owned and adored by Australians all, and we love it. Shame on the Greens.