Proud to Serve Under the Flag: MPs Float Motion to Criminalise Burning National Flag

Queensland’s Member for Flynn, Colin Boyce, has given a speech in federal parliament in support of a motion to make the burning of the Australian flag a crime.

Boyce spoke in federal parliament where he condemned instances of protesters burning the Australian flag at rallies across Australia.

“The Australian flag is the flag members of our Australian Defence Force wear on our shoulders and the flag that sits on the coffins of our fallen men and women,” he said on Sept. 1, which also marked the 124th birthday of the flag.

“The Flag Act 1953 fails to decriminalise the destruction of the Australian national flag and the motion condemns the failure of the government to enact legislative power to punish those who burn the Australian flag and … for allowing protesters to carry and display declared terrorist flags throughout our community.”

Boyce’s comments come in support of fellow Liberal-National Party politician and Member for Herbert, Phillip Thompson, who is putting forth a motion to criminalise burning the flag (pdf) in conjunction with a petition calling for public support.

The Flynn MP said Australia is currently a divided nation.

Boyce referenced a recent video of masked pro-Palestine protesters who were filmed burning and ripping up the Australian flag, calling them cowards and traitors.

Numerous countries already have penalties in place for destroying national flags, including France, Germany, Italy, Poland, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, and more.

The United States has also recently announced intentions to criminalise the burning of the flag.

An Institute of Public Affairs report this year found that 77 percent of Australians believed burning the flag should be against the law, with 63 percent calling for jail time for offenders.

Data also showed 71 percent of Australians were in favour of deporting non-citizens who offend against the flag, with 66 percent of young people aged 18-24 also in support.

It was also revealed that just 13 percent of people do not believe the flag unites the nation, and 7 percent say they are not proud of it.

Thompson, who initiated the motion, is a former serviceman who says he was proud to serve under the flag.

“It is deeply personal and an insult to every single Australian every time one of these thugs puts a torch to our national flag without consequence,” he said.