Ed,

Images of Council’s recent Citizen of the Year ceremony show the Australian National Flag (ANF) incorrectly placed to the right of the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal flags. In this situation protocol requires that the ANF appears on the left followed by all other flags.

If Clarence Valley Council can’t be bothered displaying the Australian Flag correctly, would it be a such a stretch to believe that one day it might consider it divisive to display the flag at all. Council has form in this regard. At its meeting of 23rd August 2022 all our current Councillors voted to rename its Australia Day Awards the Citizen of the Year Awards and to hold the event and citizenship ceremonies on a day other than Australia Day. Based on some porous argument about the cost of holding Australia Day celebrations on a public holiday, agenda papers also stated, “there has been some community pushback and less participation because CVC celebrates and hosts this event on Australia Day”. What exactly do council officers mean by “some” and if there is evidence to support this view, I would be interested to see it. Council elections are in September this year and my vote will go to candidates who consider Australia Day worthy of celebration on the 26th of January.

Steve Walton, Gulmarrad