Whittlesea council has defended its practice of lowering the Australian flag on Sorry Day after it was publicly criticised for contravening national protocols.
This year’s Reconciliation Week celebrations started a day early last Tuesday with a walk around the council’s Sorry Space to commemorate the national day of apology.
The walk was followed by a smoking ceremony and the lowering of the Aboriginal and Australian flags to acknowledge stolen generations and past injustices.
But the council’s practice of lowering both national and Aboriginal flags – a custom since 2002 – drew the ire of the executive director of the Institute of Public Affairs, John Roskam.
Mr Roskam criticised the council for lowering the national flag in breach of the Prime Minister and Cabinet department’s official flag-flying guidelines.
Whittlesea mayor Ricky Kirkham rejected Mr Roskam’s assertions.
“As a local municipality, we can make decisions to lower the flag. However, the protocol that we are obliged to follow is that, if you lower one flag, we have to lower them all,” he said.
“Council works closely with our local Aboriginal communities and is absolutely committed to reconciliation. As such, every day we proudly fly the Aboriginal flag.”
A Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet advisor said the federal government encourages the flying of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags on Sorry Day and throughout National Reconciliation Week.
The federal government’s It’s an Honour website states: “Flying the Indigenous flags on National Sorry Day and throughout National Reconciliation Week confirms our national respect for Indigenous Australians.”
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s booklet on the protocols for the appropriate use of flags and how to fly them includes occasions when directions will be given by the federal government for all flags to be flown at half-mast. Some examples include Anzac Day and Remembrance Day.
Reconciliation Week events have been held across the country in line with this year’s theme: “It’s time to change it up”.
Whittlesea Reconciliation Group will announce winners of the 2015 Reconciliation awards next month.
