Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Criminal Code Amendment (Flag Protection) Bill 2026 seeks to do one thing: to prohibit desecrating or recklessly burning the Australian flag—the Australian national flag, the Australian Aboriginal flag that was proclaimed in 1995 under the Flags Act, and the Torres Strait Islander flag, again proclaimed under the Flags Act in 1995. To be clear, my bill seeks to make it a criminal offence if you deliberately or recklessly act to desecrate or burn our flags, not if you accidentally do it. This does exclude respectful and private destruction in accordance with the Flags Act once a flag is dilapidated, faded or torn; incidental wear or tear; or the destruction of a reproduction or likeness such as in a picture book. The maximum penalty for this would be up to two years of imprisonment for a first offence and, for subsequent offences, a minimum of one year of imprisonment.

Burning a national flag is a criminal offence in many nations: in France, the home of protest; in Germany, up to three years; and in Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Poland. Across Asia it's an offence—in India, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea or, indeed, Israel. Across the Americas, whether you're in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico or even Nicaragua, it is recognised that to burn or desecrate the national flag is a criminal offence. In New Zealand, our neighbour, it carries an up-to-$5,000 fine.

Our national flags hold deep significance for Australians. Our service men and women have fought under our Australian national flag. This bill seeks to have the same rules for all three flags. I must say I was very surprised when there was an amendment to the hate laws that we passed in late January—there was an amendment by the opposition to make it a criminal offence to burn the Australian flag—and the government didn't accept that. The government rejected that amendment. So this bill actually seeks to bring us all together to look at all three national flags and say the same rule should apply. It also draws a line in the sand. It says this behaviour is unacceptable. It's unacceptable no matter who you are in Australia or whether you're visiting. If you want to peacefully protest, that is one thing, but to burn a flag is another. We have a long and proud tradition in Australia of political expression, but we cannot see burning a flag as a peaceful political act.

I must say that, growing up in Australia in the eighties and nineties and having my kids in the noughties, I never saw the Australian flag being burnt. I can't ever recall a time, but now it is happening with flagrant disregard and it's happening with such regularity, and it is not a peaceful protest; it is hatred. Our flags are important history. They are our identity, our history and our sense of belonging, and so desecrating or burning them just shows contempt and disrespect for the peoples and communities that they represent and the many soldiers who died under the national flag for us.

The history of our flags in Australia is actually a very joyful thing to know. A hundred and twenty-five years ago this September, our flag was first flown, and it was chosen through a competition. There were actually five winners of a competition to create a new flag for a very young nation. The prize money, 200 pounds, which was a lot of money back in 1901, was shared among five successful winners, and quite a few of those were young people. As I said, it will be 125 years this September for our flag.

When we look at the Aboriginal flag, the artist, Harold Thomas, in 1971, created this powerful symbol of unity, identity and land rights for Indigenous Australians, and it was first flown in my state of South Australia. Indeed, Harold Thomas went to a high school in Mayo; he went to Willunga High School. The Aboriginal flag has been recognised under the Flags Act since 1995.

The Torres Strait Islander flag was designed by the late Bernard Namok on Thursday Island. It was adopted in 1992 as a flag and then became part of the flags of Australia on 14 July 1995. So we have a history with our flags, and that history should be celebrated. It should be protected and it absolutely must be respected, and at the moment our flag, our Australian flag in particular, is not being respected. It is continually being burnt by people who seek to incite hatred in our nation. So this bill very much sets a boundary of shared values, respect, inclusion and cohesion, and it's what our community wants.

There have been many, many surveys right across the nation that say, 'Should burning one of our national flags, the Australian flag'—with respect to those different surveys. Seventy per cent of people said: 'Absolutely. Why would it not be?' In fact, coming here this morning, one of my sons said, 'Mum, have a look at something online.' I said: 'I can't. I'm about to introduce a bill to make it an offence, a criminal offence, to burn one of our three Australian flags.' And they said, 'How is it not already an offence?' And that is how the majority of Australians feel, and it's our job in this place to act on the sentiment of Australians. So I would urge the government to look at this bill. This bill is designed for unity, but it's also designed to draw a line in the sand and say: 'No more division. Let's respect each other's flags. Let's not burn—let's not desecrate.'

Madame Deputy Speaker, I would like to cede the rest of my time to the member for Fowler, who will be seconding my bill.

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