Regardless of whether changing the flag would be change for change sake, the idea that "Changing the flag would blunt Australia's future" is just a silly and juvenile claim. There is no evidence that any other nation changing its flag had its future blunted.

All that would happen with a change in flag would be that a group which sees their world view wrapped up in a symbol would be upset and another group who failed to have their preferred design adopted would also be upset. Everyone else would just get on with life as normal.

It is quite clear that large number of Australians don't view the national flag as the one and only way to show you are Australian, just look at the flags that are flown at international sporting contests involving Australia.

I think the New Zealand exercise in flag changing should give us a fair idea of the waste of time and money this is.

Maybe we should name our country "boaty mcboat face"?

Anyone who has problems with a flag that represents our history in the corner of our OWN flag, chosen by Australians, would not be happy in heaven. All this squawking about a few convicts is laughable in face of the fact of the stategic reason the Empire settled this continent, and the fact that a Western, democratic, thriving society was establish amidst barbarity. I am proud of my British ancestry, and also proud of the fact that we keep ties with our beginnings, while still being a totally autonomous nation.

@ttbn, the beginnings of this nation are Aboriginal, not British. Simple fact that so many get wrong. As to 'barbarity', yes that is a apt description of how so many Aboriginal people were treated by the invaders.

Minotaur,

No. There was no aboriginal nation; there were tribes, family goups mainly, who fought when they came across each other. There were about 700 different speech groups. Nothing national about them. They were wasting a good country when their counterparts in other countries were trading and building civilisations. That's why they lost the land. For the times, settling was not 'invading', and the same people in Wesminster who declared the continent to be 'terra nullius' were the same people who decreed that the natives were to be to be treated with respect and not harmed (unlike the Spanish or other empire builders who set about annihilating the the natives of countries they colonised). Too many people these days compare the actions of the past with contemporary mores; particularly those who are almost totally ignorant of Australia and British history. There were some atrocities against
aborigines, but they have been wildly exaggerated by left wing, and one communist, modern historians, who also created the 'noble savage' image for a harsh and cruel people. Also, the idea that the Great South Land, as it was called long before it was named Australia, should have been left in the Stone Ages is patently absurd.

ttbn...that there was no united Aboriginal nation means nothing. Europeans did not discover Australia and nor were its origins something that came from them. To claim that Aborigines were 'wasting the country' is an extremely ignorant view that clearly shows you have not done any research into Aboriginal history. Aboriginal people were highly adapted to their environment, wherever that may have been across such a vast continent. They often had complex land and resource management techniques honed over thousands of years. Why don't you read some Bill Gammage or Bruce Pascoe?

As to decrees that originated in Britain, well they were summarily ignored in the reality of the Australian experience. Or perhaps you believe that kidnapping people is treating them with respect. That infecting people with smallpox is treating them with respect. That stealing their lands and murdering them in cold-blood was treating them with respect. Annihilation of Aboriginal peoples and cultures happened and is recorded history. Your mention of the 700 languages that have been reduced to around 150 is a pretty graphic example of the annihilation that went on for over a century.

Finally, your use of the small 'a' for Aborigine/Aboriginal is a sign of just how little you know or respect the issues. Thanks for demonstrating that so well.