Dutton pledges to drop Indigenous flags from national addresses

Peter Dutton’s pledge to never address the country as prime minister while flanked by the Indigenous flags has been met with anger by leaders of the Yes campaign.

The Opposition Leader has long appeared publicly without the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags behind him.

On Monday night he said the three flags “divides people unnecessarily” and ultimately Australia only has one national ensign.

“It’s deeply disappointing and disturbing that some people have extended the “No” to all things recognising, and more importantly celebrating, First Nations Peoples, histories and cultures,” Uluru Dialogue co-chair Pat Anderson said.

“This is yet another remark from a man who’s made a career of using First Nations matters to not only invoke hatred but as a deliberate and inflammatory political move in his quest for the top job.

“Make no mistake – the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags are official flags of the Australian Nation.

“Dutton may choose to create his own false narrative, but these are the indisputable facts.”Ms Anderson said the Morrison Coalition government paid more than $20m to obtain the copyright of the Aboriginal flag in 2022.

“Flying the flags and standing before them does not undermine Australian unity. It recognises it.” she said.

Mr Dutton told Sky News on Monday that the Indigenous flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag should be respected, “but they are not our national flags.”

“I’m very strongly of the belief that we are a country united under one flag and if we’re asking people to identify with different flags, no other country does that, and we are dividing our country unnecessarily,” he told Sky News.

He accused Anthony Albanese of pandering to the public, saying the Prime Minister was trying “to be all things to all people”.

“The fact is that we should stand up for who we are, for our values, what we believe in,” he said.

“We are united as a country when we gather under one flag, which is what we should do on Australia Day.”

Mr Dutton’s latest election promise came a day after Coalition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said she wanted to windback Welcome to Country ceremonies because they were “commercialisation of culture”.

“There are those right around the country, who basically their only role, their only source of income, is delivering Welcome to Country,” Senator Price told Sky News.

“This commercialisation of culture, which is exactly what is going on, I can understand there will be those that will be upset if we try to bring it to an end.”

The Albanese government has sought increase First Nations representation since coming to power in 2022, including through its failed Voice referendum, which would have set up a body to advise parliament on Indigenous issues.

Indigenous Australians are the most incarcerated group of people in the world, and have significantly shorter life expectancies than their non-Indigenous counterparts.