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Unsourced and probably original research Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
Original research as nothing in the source states this is an argument for changing the flag. Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
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* The flag is not distinctive because it contains the national flag of another country in a position of prominence. In particular, the flag is difficult to distinguish from a variety of flags based on the British [[Blue Ensign]], most notably the [[Flag of New Zealand|national flag of New Zealand]] and the state [[Flag of Victoria (Australia)|flag of Victoria]]. For example, when Australian prime minister [[Bob Hawke]] visited Canada in 1984, [[Ottawa]] was decked out with New Zealand flags in his honour.<ref name="25Jan"/> The [[Australian Monarchist League]], during their "No" campaign for the [[1999 Australian republic referendum|Australian republic referendum in 1999]], displayed the New Zealand flag instead of the Australian flag in one of their pamphlets.<ref name="25Jan" /> Again in 2013, the Australian Monarchist League mistakenly captioned the New Zealand flag as being the Australian flag on their website.<ref name="25Jan">
{{Cite press release |title=Monarchists Prove Case for Australian Flag Change |date=18 May 1999 |publisher=[[Ausflag]] |url=https://www.ausflag.com.au/monarchists_cant_tell.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321164726/https://www.ausflag.com.au/monarchists_cant_tell.asp |archive-date=21 March 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* It does not accurately connote Australia's status as an independent nation. The Union Jack at the canton suggests Australia is a British colony or dependency. New Zealand, [[Tuvalu]] and [[Fiji]] are the only other independent nations in the world to feature the Union Jack on their national flags. Other [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries whose flags originally depicted the Union Jack have since changed them without becoming republics, while Canada, whose unofficial pre-1965 [[Flag of Canada#Great Flag Debate|national flag]] was the [[Canadian Red Ensign]], also adopted a new flag design without becoming a republic. The Australian flag's colours of red, white and blue are neither Australia's official [[National colours of Australia|national colours]] (green and gold) nor its traditional [[Tincture (heraldry)|heraldic colours]] (blue and gold).
* The current design for the flag serves as a reminder for [[Aboriginal Australians]] regarding a period in [[History of Australia|Australian history]] where "the rights of Indigenous people were overlooked", and as such "symbolises dispossession and oppression" and "doesn’t reflect the reality of Australian life."<ref>{{cite news|last=Knaus|first=Christopher|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/26/new-australian-flag-design-gets-rid-of-the-union-jack|title=Malcolm Turnbull says Australian flag will never change, rejecting new design|work=The Guardian|date=26 January 2018|access-date=4 October 2021}}</ref>
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