Shire again defers updating flag policy

THE Surf Coast Shire still does not have an updated policy about what flags it should fly, where, and when, with the council pushing the issue back to their next meeting.

The Flag Policy outlines how the shire meets the flag flying protocols set by other levels of government, and establishes a process for determining other flags to be flown at the flag poles surrounding the Civic Centre in Torquay North in support of the Council Plan.

The council has had the policy in place since 2018 and adopted a 12-month flag flying schedule in March last year.

The schedule outlines when the shire flies flags to coincide with some of the shire’s events and awareness raising campaigns or where a consistent community request has been made to fly a flag.

At the February 22 meeting, the officers’ report to councillors recommended the council adopt a new policy as it was “an opportunity to bring the Policy and the Schedule into better alignment including setting the Policy and Schedule terms for multiple years to provide clarity for a longer period of time giving certainty to Council and the community for the coming years”.

Cr Rose Hodge said she supported the shire’s chief executive officer being responsible for considering and approving community requests to fly flags, or determining when to refer such decisions to the council.

Cr Hodge, with the support of Cr Kate Gazzard, moved to amend the policy by making two changes – the Transgender flag to be flown on the front lawn flag pole on March 31 for International Transgender Day of Visibility, and the Transgender flag to be flown on the front lawn flag pole at half-mast on November 20 for Transgender Memorial Day – but this motion was not voted on.

After some debate about whether the policy’s directive to fly the Aboriginal flag at half-mast would mean the Australian flag would also have to be at half-mast, Cr Heather Wellington successfully moved to defer debate on the policy until the March council meeting.

“I certainly think it’s a good idea to have a policy or a schedule, but I don’t think we should have a policy tha’’s internally inconsistent,” she said.

Eight of the nine councillors voted in support of deferral – “Maybe fourth time lucky,” Cr Hodge quipped – with Cr Paul Barker the lone vote in opposition.