There was a time when Australia was British. Between the arrival of the first fleet and federation in 1901 Australia was indisputably a British colony. But surely, more that 100 years after federation, and several waves of non British immigration later, that time has past. Our economic and political ties dissolved during the century just past. Britain forgo economic interest in her colonies when she rejected the Commonwealth in favour of the European Union. Politically the last link was broken 30 years ago when the High Court of Australia became the final court of appeal over the Privy Council. So why the Australian national flag still needs to be a British Flag escapes me. We should have long ago followed the lead of Canada and updated our flag to represent an Australian nation rather than a British possession.
So what should the current flag be replaced with? Personally, I think a green and gold colour scheme is a no brainer. As a nation Australia seems to have decided that the only achievements worth achieving are those on the sporting field. Be it cricket, rugby, soccer. or anything else; green and gold has become synonymous with Australian sporting successes. So it seems natural that our flag should also feature the green and gold. My preference is for something simple and elegant, perhaps a dark green flag with gold stars.
Now I know the conservatives are going to jump up down sprouting their usual nonsense, but no, it won't offend the Queen. And no, it won't lead to teenagers taking more drugs and having more sex than they already do. Yes I do know people fought and died under the current flag, but plenty fought and died under the red ensign, and no one batted an eyelid when that was banished by Menzies in 1953.
It's time to change.
