Flag burning should be illegal

JANUARY 21, 2016: IN the lead-up to Australia Day, I'm standing by my push to make acts such as burning the Australian flag at protest events an offence punishable by law.Australia Day is one of those occasions when people proudly fly the flag to celebrate who we are, and that’s just as it should be.In the past though, we have had left-wing protesters burning an Australian flag in a public place as an act which is clearly designed to offend and provoke.Now ahead of Australia Day, we have an artist down south wanting to ‘stoke the fire’ so to speak with this event called ‘Chuck another flag on the barbie’.This fellow rightly states that burning the Australian flag is not against the law, but I will be aiming to make it so.I made an official complaint to the Human Rights Commission following earlier incidents, but my concerns were dismissed.The Human Rights Commission panders to minorities, rather than providing equal protection and access.In its response questioning the validity of my complaint, they have stated:   ‘… it is not clear how it could be argued that the burning of the flag in these particular circumstances was done because of your race, national origin or ethnic origin, or the race, national or ethnic origin of Australians of European descent.’It doesn’t matter how they dress up this argument, if burning the Australian national flag at a rally isn’t a public act designed to offend someone on the basis of their nationality, I don’t know what is.These acts of desecration are offensive to me and many of my constituents, and that’s why I will introduce a private member’s bill in Parliament next month to amend the Flags Act and ensure all such actions are against the law.Many people are surprised to discover it’s not an offence already, and it’s something that needs to be clearly defined.