Australian city orders 'offensive' Australian flag down
We read:
"A Brisbane council has ordered an ex-soldier to take down the Australian flag which flies outside his house because it has been deemed "offensive" by a neighbour. Aaron Wilson erected the 5m high flagpole eight weeks ago, in honour of his friends who served in Iraq, The Courier-Mail reports. But on Tuesday, Logan City Council called to tell him a neighbour had made a complaint, labelling it "offensive". He was told to remove the pole or risk legal action....
Logan City mayor Pam Parker said she backed Mr Wilson. "I am offended that somebody should complain to the council about the Australian flag, and whoever they are should hang their head in shame," she said on ABC radio. But she could not rule out his having to move the flagpole. A council spokeswoman said there was a concern the flagpole could fall down in high winds. She said Mr Wilson, who is a salesman, needed a building permit, because the pole was only 4.5m from the kerb and, under the Queensland Development Code, it should be at least 6m from the front.
But Mr Wilson, 30, said other residents in the area had similar flagpoles that were closer to the boundary than his. He said he would not be moving the flag. "You can't have rules for some people and not for others," he said. "I can't see how moving the flag back a bit is going to stop it being offensive."
Source
As soon as I heard of this nonsense I promptly flew an Australian flag from the flagpole out front of my house. I fly different flags for different occasions but there was no doubt what this was an occasion for.
Update
I am pleased to report that there has been huge public support for the patriotic Australian -- and he is NOT going to move his flag.
11 comments:
Shall we take a guess that the offended neighbor was born somewhere other than Australia? Even if not, if he (or she) is offended by the Australian flag perhaps a move to another, less offensive country, is in order.
The Brisbane council should have made that suggestion to the offended party.
Put an NRA sticker on the window.
As for the comment that others have their flag poles closer to the kerb than his, he needs to check the grandfather clause. Was their flagpoles in place before this 'law' took effect?
I agree, the person offended was probably not an Australian.
How sad. I personally am not an Australian but love the flag of that country. I think it is one of the nicer looking flags a country can have and much more interesting than the Canadian flag.
So what kind of flags are the neighbors flying from their apparently allowed flag-poles??
Several years ago when I retired my wife, who is Irish, suggested we buy a house in the Irish Republic and spend part of the year there.
I discovered the Irish government discourages the flying of the Irish flag by almost everyone. I was amazed at the lack of nationalism.
County "colors" are a different matter. The government encourages a sort of tribalism and uses sports to enforce this.
I've come to realize the discouraging of flying the national flag is a clever way of keeping the 26 counties from uniting against a central government.
Most visitors don't notice the lack of flags and when we return back to the United States the massive display of the Stars and Stripes is an instant reminder of a country proud of its heritage.
"I discovered the Irish government discourages the flying of the Irish flag by almost everyone. I was amazed at the lack of nationalism."
Many countries in Europe do. There was even a proposed law in the Netherlands last year to make it illegal to fly the flag or sing the national anthem at all except on occasions celebrating a birthday in the royal family.
That didn't get anywhere, luckily.
As it is the regulations regarding flying the flag (and putting up flagpoles) are so cumbersome most people don't bother.
"As for the comment that others have their flag poles closer to the kerb than his, he needs to check the grandfather clause. Was their flagpoles in place before this 'law' took effect? "
Wouldn't matter, not here.
If he put it up in a place where there is precedent in similar houses in the street he'd get an automatic building permit here (though he'd still have to apply for one, the council would be required by law to grant it even if the building code had changed to disallow it).
I don´t know how is the political situation in Australia, but in Spain that situation is similar, the national flag can offend some persons and specially in some areas in the country. But nobody can go to the judge to bring charges anyway.
Greetings from Spain!!
Spain has its rebellious regions that consider themselves (semi)independent from the kingdom.
Oz does not.
I'd rather not be seen with a Spanish flag in say Basque or Catalan cities with a large native population, it's not healthy...
But that's another situation entirely.
I am pleased to report that there has been huge public support for the patriotic Australian -- and he is NOT going to move his flag.
Good to hear. Had the madness won out, I would have suggested he replace the flag with a flag depicting a hand with the middle finger extended, accompanied by rude, insulting words directed at the neighbor by name. Good to know that won't be necessary.
Both the emu and kangaroo on the australian coat of arms should both kick that council of doofuses in their heads and jump start their nonworking brains
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