Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

The need for the Senate to take immediate action to make it an offence to wilfully burn or desecrate the Australian National Flag.

I can't remember a more inspiring sight than the sea of Australian flags waving in Canberra on Sunday. I can't remember when I felt more pride in my country and its unique, wonderful people. Our flag means so much to so many. It tells a story of who we are: the Aboriginal people who have lived for thousands of years under the eternal Southern Cross; the arrival of the First Fleet and the establishment of the British colonies of convicts and free settlers seeking a new life on a new frontier; and the creation of a new nation and federation of states united in common cause.

Today it's National Flag Day. It was 124 years ago this very day when this flag was first flown. It followed a national competition to design the flag and a democratic vote to select it. This flag has represented our great nation since that day. It has been flown to represent us all over the world: on the battlefields of Gallipoli, Beersheba, the Western Front, the Kokoda Track, Tobruk, Long Tan and Kandahar; in the great cities and capitals of the world, flying over the sporting fields and at the Olympics where Australians have represented our nation with great distinction; on our iconic landmarks and in schools at our public institutions; in the front yards of countless patriots; and over the top of this very building, the seat of Australian democracy. It is the flag under which so many brave Australians fought and died in wars against tyranny, in defence of democracy and for our nation's survival. It is those sacrifices the Australian flag honours above all else.

Shamefully, there are people who know what the flag means to so many Australians, and that's why they despise it. They despise our people and our nation for their stupid, narrow hateful causes, and due to the symbolic value of our flag, they choose to desecrate it. They choose to burn it in our streets. They object to Australian senators wearing our flag in this chamber, while they proudly drape themselves in a keffiyeh, a global symbol of Islamic terrorists. This is unbelievable. Representatives of the Australian people are banned from wearing our flag in the Australian parliament because a Greens senator objects. Remember that—a Greens senator. What the hell is wrong with you?