Australian Flag Debate - Progress of The Debate

Progress of The Debate

When the winning entry to the 1901 Federal Flag Design Competition was announced the initial reception was mixed. The then republican magazine The Bulletin labelled it:

a staled réchauffé of the British flag, with no artistic virtue, no national significance... Minds move slowly: and Australia is still Britain's little boy. What more natural than that he should accept his father's cut-down garments, – lacking the power to protest, and only dimly realising his will. That bastard flag is a true symbol of the bastard state of Australian opinion.

Initially the Department of Defence resisted, considering it to be a marine ensign and favouring King's Regulations that specified the use of the Union Jack. After being approached by the Department of Defence, Prime Minister Chris Watson stated in parliament that he was not satisfied with the design of the Australian flag and that implementation of the 1904 resolution could wait until consideration was given to "adopt another which in our opinion is more appropriate."

On 14 April 1954 the Flags Act 1953 (Cth) became law after receiving all-party support. Tabling the legislation in parliament Prime Minister Robert Menzies stated: "The bill is very largely a formal measure which puts into legislative form what has become almost the established practice in Australia."

The first proposal for a new Australian flag was made in 1956 by the Republican Socialist League, and was an evolutionary design where the Union Jack was replaced with the Commonwealth Star.

The Bulletin launched an Australian National Flag Quest on 1 August 1971 in time for the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to open the Sydney Opera House in October 1973; 10 designs were chosen from the 2,000 submitted and these were displayed by major stores in the capital cities and main provincial centres during 1972.

At the July 1982 Australian Labor Party national conference in Canberra, the party changed its policy platform in regard to national symbols to: "Initiate and Support moves to establish with popular acceptance an Australian flag ... which will more distinctively reflect our national independence and identity."

It was reported in The Australian on 28 January 1984 that, "It is understood that Federal Cabinet will soon decide how best to ignite the debate on the pros and cons of changing the flag before the issue is put to a national vote before the 1988 bicentenary year. The Minister for Housing and Construction Mr Chris Hurford publicly revealed yesterday that the Government had not allowed economic discussions to completely swamp cabinet debate on the flag."

Prime Minister Bob Hawke subsequently announced in the House of Representatives that the design of the Australian flag would not be reviewed by the Australian government before or during the bicentenary year.

Paul Keating publicly championed the cause of a new flag during his term as prime minister, including on a state visit to Indonesia. He was quoted as saying:

I do not believe that the symbols and the expression of the full sovereignty of Australian nationhood can ever be complete while we have a flag with the flag of another country on the corner of it.

On 6 June 1994, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Deputy Prime Minister Kim Beazley as saying the ALP Government was committed to its timetable for changes to Australia's flag by the Centenary of Federation in 2001; beyond commissioning a national survey that year, no further action was taken.

In opposition from 1983 - 1996, coalition MPs unsuccessfully sponsored 10 private members bills to amend the Flags Act 1953 (Cth) to prevent the existing Australian flag from being replaced by the agreement of both houses of federal parliament alone, without the views of the Australian people being taken into account.

Frequent Morgan polls showed the percentage of Australians wanting a new flag increasing from 27% in 1979 to 42% in 1992, to a majority of 52% in 1998. In response, the Coalition government under John Howard in 1996 established Australian National Flag Day, in 2002 supplied ANFA’s promotional video free to all primary schools and in 2004 required all schools receiving federal funds to fly the Australian flag.

On 24 March 1998, the Flags Amendment Bill 1996 received Royal Assent.

Malcolm Turnbull, former chairman (1993 - 2000) of the Australian Republican Movement and head of the official Yes case committee for the 1999 Australian republic referendum, left the board of Ausflag in 1994 after being asked for his resignation and in 2004 joined the Australian National Flag Association.

A 2010 Morgan Poll that asked: "Do you think Australia should have a new design for our National Flag?" was supported by 29% of respondents and opposed by 66%, with 5% uncommitted.