Bid to criminalise burning of all Australian flags

Two Federal MPs have introduced Bills in Parliament to criminalise burning the Australian flag after Indigenous leader Moojidji lit the flag while addressing a crowd at an Invasion Day rally in Brisbane last month.

Nationals backbencher Pat Conaghan and independent Rebekha Sharkie say they want to outlaw the burning of all three of Australia’s flag, including the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander flags.

Nationals member for Cowper Pat Conaghan.

“Burning a national flag is a criminal offence in many nations,” Ms Sharkie said.

“Across Asia, it’s an offence in India, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, or indeed, Israel.

“And in New Zealand, our neighbours, it carries up to a $5,000 fine.”

Mr Conaghan told Parliament that millions of Australians supported his Bill.

Independent MP Rebekha Sharkie.

“Mr Speaker, the Australian flag and the Australian Red Ensign are not abstract ideas,’ he told the House of Representatives,” he said.

“They are not props for political theatre. They are national symbols earned through sacrifice, service and a shared history. And when those symbols are burned or deliberately desecrated, it is not an act of harmless protest.

“It is an act that strikes at the heart of our nation, our respect and our cohesion.

“That is why we must seriously consider making the burning or desecration of the Australian flag and the Australian Ensign a criminal offence.”

Mr Conaghan has suggested penalties of up to $16,500 or 12 months jail for a first offence.