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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (4 December) . . Page.. 4607 ..

MR CORNWELL (4.40): Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, as Speaker of this Assembly and as an elected representative, I feel compelled once again to vacate the chair and to speak on this motion. Let me say at the outset that, at the risk of being labelled with an assortment of derogatory tags and perhaps even the word "racist", I will be opposing Ms Tucker's motion to have the flags of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities installed in the chamber. Indeed, it is my understanding that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities themselves have not made such a request. I recall speaking to a number of representatives at the historic appearance of these people before the Assembly, and several of those representatives told me at the time that they were quite happy with the present arrangement of the flags in the chamber.

This idea has been the brainchild of Ms Tucker for some time. I freely admit that. It has been on the agenda of the Administration and Procedure Committee for some months. Possibly, it began as a headline to get the Greens publicity, but it has certainly been overtaken by events in the form of the Wik debate which is taking place in the Federal Parliament at the moment. I am rather appalled that there has been an attempt in this Assembly by Ms Tucker to hijack what I regard as a national issue for party benefit. I would remind members that Ms Tucker has been wearing a "Stick with Wik" armband for some time, so I believe that the evidence speaks for itself. However, I also believe that the success of this motion relies upon political correctness being used to silence potential critics. I do not intend to be silenced.

I find this motion objectionable because I believe it is divisive. This motion is really about separateness. Indeed, I think it contradicts the very notion of reconciliation - an admirable, commendable notion being advocated by most of the Federal Parliament and, I have no doubt, in the debates that are currently taking place in the Senate. Certainly, it has been promoted by indigenous people and just about every thinking, rational person in this country. But this motion does nothing to promote the concept of Australians being of a variety of backgrounds though ultimately being of one country. While we in this country welcome diversity, we do not welcome division. This motion, I believe, promotes the concept of a community divided by ethnic origin. I do not believe that is a healthy concept to promote, either domestically or overseas.

This chamber, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, already has two official flags - the Australian flag and the ACT flag. I, as Speaker, was responsible for having them installed in this place because I believed it was in keeping with the Westminster parliamentary tradition, dignity and protocol. These two flags, these officially recognised symbols, are representative of everyone who resides in the Australian Capital Territory irrespective of their ethnic background, their creed or their colour.

What this motion seeks to achieve would be unprecedented because there is a precedent - or perhaps it is convention; I am not sure - that has already been established in other legislatures across Australia, and that is to respect the national flag and the flag of the particular State or Territory by placing them in the respective legislative chambers. This motion seeks to go against these widely accepted protocols and long-held traditions of Australian parliaments of respecting the official symbols of both nationhood and statehood - the Australian and ACT flags.

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