Change the flag, is but one of a number of half baked concepts that from time time to surfaces out of the mire. The concept initial gains some momentum as it is pushed along by this or that self appointed advocacy group. Eventually, the greater Australian public come to appreciate that it is a nothing but a costly nonsense - a nonsense that will do naught to improve anybodies life. In fact may, because of the law of unforseen and adverse consequences prove to be socially deleterious? So eventually the concept is forced back into the mire from whence it came, to lie dormant until after a number of years it is resurrected by a new generation of busybodies.

A partial list of such dormant concepts, include:

• The republic.
• Daylight saving in WA.
• Reducing the voting age to 16years or younger.
• Banning cars from city centres,
• Reducing speed limit for motor vehicles to 40 kmh or even lower.
• Outlawing plastic shopping bags.
• Earth Hour.
• Censoring the internet.
• Etc. etc.

As a further example, the evidence is that the global warming fiasco has run its course and is about to be boxed up and returned to the bog.

Our country's national colours are blue and yellow (look it up) our flag is red, white and blue, every kid and sportsman dreams of representing our country in green and gold and little Johnny Howard's ignorant bogon (Chinese made "England at night flag") wearing idiots have the gall to say we don't need a new flag to unite and represent us?
Our present flag made official in 1952 by Menzies with his real favorite flag the "Union Jack", representing the Nth Hemisphere's England's cross of st George, Scotland's cross of St Andrew and Ireland's cross of St Patrick, "what could be more representative and Australian". We have the Victorian State symbol the Southern Cross to represent Menzies home State on his liberal party's blue background, and a big star to represent the entire rest of the Australian colonies?
My great uncle was at Galipolli with the 10th light horse and he told me the British slaughtered us and to never respect that despised union jack, they almost shot the pomie officers, now theres some history. My father was in the 6th division, the one Churchill would not let us have back in WW2 and diverted while the Japanese attacked us, that Prime Minister Jack Curtin demanded after Menzies was sacked by his own party, we dumped the poms and sided with the yanks, some more history, think about Singapore and Darwin, some more history? They can keep the union jack, it's called the "butchers apron" by our troops! More history, Boer war stealing the Kruger gold mine off the Boers for the poms. Boxer rebellion pushing opium on the Chinese for the poms? Thats your union jack flags history, we should have burnt it after Galipolli and called it the ashes!

Ray Martin is a TV journalist, not an eminent Australian: getting a medal (AM, I think it was, from elites doesn’t make anyone ‘eminent’. And, Greg Barns’ agreement with him on flag changing is probably the kiss of death.

Barns’ “symbols” of “confidence” and “independence” are a joke, given that Australia is busily handing over its independence to the United Nations and to the god “globalisation”. Australia has less independence that it ever did under Kevin Rudd. A new flag will not change anything; but it will remove an important part of our history, which is the whole idea behind the continual nagging and whining about a new flag.

As for a flag that includes aborigines, they have their own flag –that’s what they wanted – so let them be happy with it. All that is needed is some instruction on flag protocol for those who fly the flag with the Australian flag. They are usually flow in the wrong order.

Before British settlement, there was no such thing as ‘Australia’. The native populations were not Australian. They had no symbols. They were a Stone Age society, now making up about 4% of the population. There time is gone.

There is no good reason to change our flag.

I do agree with Barns about the sentimental nonsense of dying for, under, or somewhere near the flag. Soldiers died to protect Australia and its people, not a flag.

But, there is still no good reason to change our flag.

Australia’s history did start with the raising of the Union Jack. Anything before that belonged to a Stone Age people in an un-named, un-used and wasted land.

We now have a flag whose small Union Jack represents the history of the founding of white Australia. There is no good reason to change it, simply because Brit-hating multiculturalists want to expunge our historical ties and further encourage the hotch-potch of cultures which is dividing Australia.

I think Ray has overstepped the mark and has ventured into the fantasy world of his own irrelevance; looking for a quick headline to put his name back up in lights – But they did not pay the power bill;
So Nihilists and cultureless cretins; - return back to your caves; There is an ample supply of moronic politics in Australia – perhaps understated – overwhelmed by Idiotry as politics.

Ray , Just Go back to Kevin Spud for brains place and enjoy your B B Q; and leave the rest of us alone.

I see no point in shooting down Ray Martin for saying what he thinks!
The flag is a topic many people in Australia are thinking about at a time when we are also thinking about a Republic.

I believe we should keep the current flag until we become a republic, and then look at changing it to something that does not represent England at all. It should just be one with a southern cross on it, and maybe something representing all the states and territories.

Aboriginal Australians already have their own flag, so I don't really believe they want to share it with other groups of Australians.

When other countries in the past have been taken over or invaded successfully by another country, they have had to live under the conquering country's flag. That is just the way it has happened in our world's history.

One thing I find strange in all this is heritage,

It appears that the very people who want to burden us, & our cities with a whole bunch of heritage listed, basically useless old buildings, are the ones most likely to want to destroy the heritage in our flag.

Then the new chums, who want our flag, to represent them. It appears to me to be a biting the hand that feed to me,

Those who have been invited, or allowed, to join us, in this country, & take advantage of what at least some of us have toiled, & sweated to build, should have the courtesy to accept our institutions, & symbols, when they accept the material advantages.

In fact I think they mostly do. It appears to be only those, often with UK, but not English foebears who are the most noisy.