Page 1173 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 24 June 1992
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MR HUMPHRIES (12.06): Madam Speaker, the Opposition Leader and the Chief Minister have said just about everything that needs to be said about this, so I will comment only briefly. I, too, noticed the lack of an appropriately identifiable symbol for the ACT when I attended ministerial meetings. People would often ask me what the coat of arms represented, why there were swans on it, were swans native to Canberra - to my knowledge they are not - and so on. It kindled in me the idea that we ought to be developing appropriate symbols.
Although contributions have already referred - some seriously, some not - to the sort of symbols we should use, I would simply appeal for some thought to be given to symbols which are distinctively and unmistakably Canberran. The Opposition Leader referred to the flagpole over Parliament House. I would not accept that as a good symbol to use for the ACT. I point out, however, that it is the sort of symbol that is instantly recognisable around the country as part of the ACT. When he said it, I noticed that I was wearing a lapel badge that has that symbol on it, although not intentionally.
Mr Kaine: Rip it off!
MR HUMPHRIES: I will take it off later on. I think we should search for something that is recognisably ACT. The Northern Territory has a stylised flower, which either is inherently symbolic of the Northern Territory or has become that way since it was adopted. Perhaps we should look for something of that kind in the ACT, if such a thing is available. A book I have in my possession refers to the importance of flags by saying - - -
Mr Lamont: No more poetry!
MR HUMPHRIES: No, it is not poetry. It says:
Flags incarnate the overcoming of nature, of fellow humans, of self, but an overcoming through comprehension and assimilation as often as by conquest and obliteration.
That is true. Flags have been both a symbol of oppression and a symbol of freedom, in a sense. As the Chief Minister points out, we now have a new freedom in the ACT and we should have an appropriate symbol to show that we are free of the hegemony of Commonwealth control and now have our own independence. I hope that this process will proceed quickly.
I think I heard the Chief Minister say that it would proceed by consultation with the public; perhaps another competition, perhaps not. Certainly, it should be something that reflects as consensually as possible what we should all be looking for in the ACT. I do not seriously suggest that there should be a Union Jack on the ACT flag, but we should have something that everybody can feel comfortable with as a good symbol of the ACT.
MR STEVENSON (12.09): I disagree with the motion. I can understand that there could be a competition for some sort of symbol that epitomised the ACT. I would suggest a large X. That would be well recognised throughout the land. Perhaps on a more conservative note we could run a competition to ask people to give us a symbol to denote increased taxes, reduced community services and increased borrowings.
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