After hearing so much about the furor over the Aboriginal flag and having a close connection with a number of indigenous football players and their families, I needed to do some research regarding the refusal to display the flag during the Sir Douglas Nichols round of footy fixtures.
Here are some points relative to this debacle which I have ‘dot-pointed’ for better clarity, and you will see that the problem has emanated through the person who originally designed the flag
- The flag can’t be flown unless the company run by non-indigenous people is paid a fee for commercial use
- The flags original indigenous designer sold licensing rights years ago and in the meantime has been earning handsome royalties
- The Aboriginal flag is not a National flag but an official flag recognised as such under the Flags Act
I along with so many others agree that the Aboriginal flag should fly high on special occasion days. But it should not be up to Australian taxpayers to compensate by buying the the rights to the flag after over 20 years of income from it both commercially and in licensing rights.
Maybe it’s about time the rights to the flag was re-purchased by an Aboriginal entity?
I any case the flag has a place at all events.
