Australian flag debate

It has come to a head on a number of occasions, such as the period immediately preceding the Australian Bicentenary in 1988 and during the prime ministership of Paul Keating, who had publicly raised the topic of flag change during the early 1990s.

The then-republican magazine The Bulletin labelled it:[21][22] a staled réchauffé of the British flag, with no artistic virtue, no national significance ...

What more natural than that he should accept his father's cut-down garments, – lacking the power to protest, and only dimly realising his will.

[25] One of the first proposals for a new Australian flag with the Union Jack removed was made in 1956 by the Republican Socialist League.

[26] The Bulletin magazine launched an Australian National Flag Quest on 1 August 1971 in time for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to open the Sydney Opera House in October 1973; 10 designs were chosen from the 2,000 submitted and these were displayed by major stores in the capital cities and main provincial centres during 1972.

[30] Later, the debate was revived in the Labor Party with the change to Paul Keating as prime minister, who publicly championed the cause of a new flag.

[33] Additionally, the government advised the governor-general proclaim 3 September Australian National Flag Day in 1996.