Angus Taylor proposes 10-year penalty for flag burning
The opposition leader also wants 26 January enshrined in law as Australia Day, setting up a fresh political dispute over national identity.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor has proposed laws to criminalise flag burning, with penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment under the opposition’s plan.
Taylor also wants 26 January to be permanently recognised in law as Australia Day. The proposals were reported by The Guardian in its Australia news live coverage, citing News Corp papers.
Taylor said he would stand up for what he described as national pride, arguing that the Australian flag, war memorials and Australia Day should not be “torn down, smashed, desecrated, or quietly stripped of their significance”.
The measures are proposals and are not presented as enacted laws. The source material does not set out the bills’ wording, their formal status, the extent of wider opposition-party backing or their prospects of passing Parliament.
The proposals are likely to reopen political debate over Australia’s national day and cultural identity, with the significance of 26 January remaining contested.
