Police seize insult to Nation masquarading as “art”
VICTORIA Police may have illegally seized a ragged Australian flag that was hung outside a Melbourne art gallery.
The gallery’s director, Michael Brenner, said he had received no complaints about the ragged flag.
But two days later, when the gallery was unattended, Senior Constable Jay McDonald, of Footscray police, climbed out of the window of the India Impex cafe next door and removed the flag. Next day Mr Brenner contacted Constable McDonald, who had left his card behind. “He informed me he had removed the flag due to numerous complaints within the community,” Mr Brenner said.Good on Senior Constable McDonald. Burning, deliberately damaging or defacing the nation’s flag the flag may not be illegal but it’s certainly poor form. It’s like a marketing ploy as in ” lets deface a flag around Australia Day – the police will react and we will get some free publicity. The National Association for the Visual Arts, together with the Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, said the removal of the flag was an act of censorship. I’d call it an act of common decency.
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For me the only concern about burning a flag is the potential harm to the health of those doing the burning. Most flags nowdays are made from synthetic fibres who can burn very quickly and also give out nasty fumes. Maybe there is a business opportunity for slow burning natural fibre flags specifically designed for demonstrations.
I’d rather material with a flash point of, say 2 degrees, so that when the bastard puts a match to it it flares up, melts all over him and permanently marks him an idiot.