NSW Council Votes To Stop Flying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flags

A local council in the NSW Riverina region has voted to stop flying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, and will introduce a permission system for Welcomes to Country ceremonies.

Following a meeting on 18 November and 28 days of community feedback, council members have voted five to four in favour to change the current council protocols in order to remove Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags from official council chambers and flagpoles. 

Going forward, any Welcome to Country ceremony in the region must be approved and accepted by a Council resolution, and if the Council resolution is not forthcoming, an Acknowledgement of Country shall instead be offered.

Until now, both flags have been standing alongside the Australian flag at both chambers at the council. 

Flags as a sign of respect

Kamilaroi woman Cheree Toka who campaigned to have the Aboriginal flag permanently displayed on Sydney Harbour Bridge said to the ABC, that flags are not population markers at all but statements of recognition and respect.

“It’s to honour the ancestors who lived, fought and survived here and reminds the nation of the land they stand on, to ensure Aboriginal identity is not made invisible for a second time,” she said to the network. 

Toka also emphasised that flying the flag on government buildings and landmarks symbolised Indigenous peoples’ longstanding presence in Australia before colonisation and that removing them had “nothing to do with being neutral”.

The Council states that they on specific occasions will fly the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag to demonstrate respect and to foster reconciliation and community partnership, as they recognise their unique cultures and historical connection across this region.

Both the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander flag were proclaimed a flag of Australia in 1995.

City Hub reached out to Lord Mayor Cheryl Cook for a comment on the council’s ruling, who did not respond by time of publication.