Peter Dutton has hinted that only the Australian flag should fly on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
Earlier this week, Dutton confirmed that if he is elected prime minister next year he will only display the Australian flag at press conferences, saying displaying three flags is “unnecessarily dividing our country”.
During an appearance on Seven’s Sunrise, Mr Dutton was asked if his stance on displaying the Aboriginal flag at press conferences also applied to flying it on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
“My preference would be that, frankly, we accept that we have a national flag,” he said.
“For us, at the federal level, I’m not going to pretend that our country can be united when we ask people to identify themselves in different ways.”
Australia should be “very proud of our indigenous heritage” but Dutton did not believe the country could be united under three flags, he said.
The Aboriginal flag permanently replaced the New South Wales state flag on the bridge in June 2022, after the New South Wales government backtracked on a $25 million plan to install a new flagpole to the flag.
After taxpayers balked at the cost, then-New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said the money would be better spent on initiatives to close the gap for Indigenous Australians.
The Aboriginal flag permanently replaced the New South Wales state flag on the Sydney Harbor Bridge in June 2022.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he would only stand in front of the Australian flag when addressing the country if elected prime minister.
Anthony Albanese has displayed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags alongside the Australian flag at press conferences since becoming prime minister in 2022.
Only the Australian flag was displayed before Albanese took the top spot.
“We didn’t make any fuss, we didn’t put out a press release… we just did it,” Albanese said at the time, before the failed Voice to Parliament referendum.
‘We have flags that represent our entire nation. “It’s an opportunity to talk about our entire history.”
However, on Monday Dutton denounced the move and revealed he would never address the nation with the Australian and Indigenous flags behind him, arguing it sent a confusing message.
On Wednesday, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson went even further, saying Sky News Australia that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags should be removed from Parliament.
“I think it’s wrong and it shouldn’t be allowed,” Ms. Hanson said.
“We are a flag, a nation and a people and that is how it should be.”