Shire adopts flag schedule except for Australia Day

THE Surf Coast Shire council has finally adopted its flag schedule with only slight changes to the proposal deferred by councillors a month ago, but the plan for Australia Day 2022 is still up in the air.

The council adopted a Flag Policy in 2018 following considerable debate about the shire flying the rainbow flag outside its council chambers in support of the same-sex marriage debate.

The shire has never previously had a calendar to determine what flags should be flown, nor when, nor on which of the four flagpole locations.

At the request of councillors in December last year, officers presented a proposed schedule to councillors at their February 23 meeting, but the matter was deferred to last week’s council meetings on a six-three vote.

The adopted schedule has eight of the same 10 original entries:

• RSL Flag (Front Lawn) to signify Anzac Day (April 25), throughout April
• Flags flown at half-mast (Ceremonial and Front Entrance) on Anzac Day itself
• The Rainbow Flag (Front Lawn) to signify IDAHOBIT (May 17) for the entirety of May
• The Torres Strait Island Flag (Ceremonial and Front Entrance) instead of the shire’s flag on National Sorry Day (May 26)
• The Torres Strait Island Flag (Ceremonial and Front Entrance) instead of the shire’s flag during Reconciliation Week (May 27-June 3)
• The Torres Strait Island Flag (Ceremonial and Front Entrance) instead of the shire’s flag during NAIDOC Week (July 4-11)
• The RSL Flag (Front Lawn) to signify Vietnam Veterans Day (August 18), throughout August
• The RSL Flag (Front Lawn) for Remembrance Day (November 11), throughout November.

It adds one new entry, the United Nations Flag (Front Entrance) to signify United Nations Day (October 24); but drops one entry, the Transgender Flag (Pond) for the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20.

The schedule was to also include flying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Flags (Ceremonial and Front Entrance) at half-mast on Australia Day (January 26, 2022). However, Cr Kate Gazzard successfully moved a motion, seven votes to one, to only adopt the calendar through to the end of December 2021, to consult with Traditional Owners and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the shire on ways to acknowledge the significance of January 26 to First Nations Peoples, and consider a report on how to do this following that consultation.

Cr Gazzard said she initially thought flying a flag to show overt support to a minority group such as the transgender community was something the shire should do.

“One of the dangers of that is that it is a token gesture and if we don’t have other mechanisms of supporting these communities, then just flying a flag on a certain day is a bit empty, I suppose, and can actually be damaging to some of those people if it ignites further division and discrimination and outcries on social media if flying those flags is controversial.”

Cr Paul Barker, who voted against the motion, said it was not worth pulling down the Front Lawn and Pond flagpoles installed by the council in 2017.

“They’re there. What I don’t endorse is the proliferation of their use by all and sundry.

“By flying any flag, we are advocating for that specific cause and by virtue of that dismiss other issues, especially individuals or groups that are not in a position to have their concerns heard.”