Hey all this talk about the Southern cross tattooed flag waving bogans reminds me of one of the funniest bits of TV last year.

The chaser guys walked around Mosman asking people about the idea of a new Mosque being built. There was some classic responses, the funniest being a woman who said, 'oh noooo, not in Mosman!'. The reporter then asked where they should build the Mosque, and she replied, 'In the Western Suburbs'.

The average bogan doesn't have the option that the Mosmonite does. NIMBY indeed. Out of sight, out of mind, and a safe place from which to look down on the lower classes for their 'racism'.

In my view, the appropriate time to consider changing the flag would be when we find the motivation and purpose to become a republic. Until then, it is pretty much a sterile debate.

But in contemplating the issue as it has been ping-ponged around this thread, it occurred to me to wonder...

...should we have a flag at all?

Think for a moment of a medal-winner at the Olympics, standing on the dais, with no flag up the pole behind them. Think of the enormous sense of personal achievement - "I did it!" - that they would experience.

But I guess that would deprive us of our vicarious victory - especially as we will have paid plenty for it.

Seriously, apart from sporting occasions and war memories, what do we need it for?

Dear Cornflower,

Kindly re-read my post.

What I was referring to was Mr Howard's conservative
outlook on boat people with the scandalous and brutal
bill that he proposed to block all access to Australia
of all asylum seekers arriving by boat. This type of
mentality would take us back to the days of the "White
Australia" policy. Which existed in the 1950s.
However, that kind of thinking - as I pointed out -
exists today among a small minority.

My parents were refugees from Lithuania,
- fleeing communism -
and were part of The Displaced Persons Scheme,
established in 1947 between the Australian Government and
the International Refugee Organisation, which saw 170,000
displaced persons arrive in Australia between 1947 and
1951. They were all committed to two years' labour,
invariably doing jobs rejected by other Australians.
I don't need to have you tell me about their contribution
to this country or how warmly they were received,
or how welcome they were made to feel.
"Speak English," was a phrase heard regularly on trains
and buses. Words like "Bloody New Australians"
were bandied about, other terms like - "Wog," and
"Dago," were also popular. Their qualifications were
not recognised. But hey - they survived - and worked
hard, and made a home here. They were part of the
people who created the diversity that is Australia today.

I have every right to speak out against My Howard's
harking back to the 1950s - to the times when Australian
families were made up of - a mother, father, three kids,
quarter acre blocks, white picket fences, and only white
faces as far as the eyes could see. This was the Australia
that Howard wanted to bring back with his legislation -
and as I said - it's an Australia that a small minority
would prefer to see today.

If, that insults you - Good! It means your heart's
in the right place!

I actually quite like the current flag - or at least I used to until its recent appropriation by the ugly racist minority. It'd look even better without the British flag in the corner though. I also like the other significant Australian flags, i.e. the Aboriginal flag and the Eureka flag.

It's pretty obvious from the comments that the national flag is an important symbol to many - whether or not they want it changed. Some people are quite passionate about wanting to retain the old flag, others want a new flag, while others are very clear about what they don't want on the national flag.

Some people are offended that many Australians wish to raise the question of a new flag at all, others talk in slogans without much apparent experience of Australia nor knowledge of our history, yet others assert that there are more pressing issues we should be addressing as a nation (like road rules, for example?).

I like JMCC's suggestion as practical first step to Australia asserting its independence. Many thanks to Foxy and the other more open-minded participants in the face of the predictable and somewhat garbled intransigence of some. It's been quite an interesting and diverse discussion so far :)

C J oooh fight bigotry with bigotry, how progressive.

The Smarmy Army tut-tutting their way through drink parties about those people! Who would have though them so intolerant? I guess it is simply a human condition.

Here in FNQ where I live, very mixed race but the trouble is those southerners that move up and try and change the place. Why don't they go back to where they came from.

Guess it always is someone else's fault.

TheMissus: << C J oooh fight bigotry with bigotry, how progressive. >>

What bigotry are you talking about? We're discussing the Australian flag here, and whether the nation needs a new one.

I must say I'm finding it increasingly difficult to decipher your posts. Have you been drinking or smoking the funny stuff?