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2007/09 Should the organisers of Sydney's Big Day Out have discouraged the carrying of the Australian flag? <BR>

2007/09 Should the organisers of Sydney's Big Day Out have discouraged the carrying of the Australian flag?

What they said ...
'It's not for the organisers to treat our flag with such disrespect. It's an outrageous position and it needs to be withdrawn, withdrawn immediately'
New South Wales premier, Morris Iemma

'The Australian flag was being used as gang colours. It was racism disguised as patriotism and I'm not going to tolerate it'
Big Day Out organiser, Ken West

The issue at a glance
On 21 January 2007 the organisers of the Big Day Out decided to discourage those attending the event in Sydney from carrying the Australian flag.
The organisers claimed their action was prompted by potential racial tension in Sydney and by concerns that the Sydney festival in 2006 had been marred by the aggression of flag-carrying youths.
The suggestion that the flag not be brought to Sydney's Big Day Out provoked an immediate response, primarily from a number of politicians. The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, and the leader of the Opposition, Mr Kevin Rudd, each condemned the attempt, as did a number of other figures including the national president of the Returned Soldiers' League (RSL) Mr Bill Crews.
The organisers of Big Day Out maintained that they were not trying to enforce a ban on the flag simply making a strong suggestion that it not be brought to the event in the name of reducing the potential for crowd violence.

Background
History and description of the Big Day Out
(The following information is an edited version of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia's entry for Big Day Out. The full text of this entry can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Day_Out

The Big Day Out (BDO) is an annual music festival that tours Australia and New Zealand. As of 2006, it features 7 or 8 stages (depending on the venue) accommodating popular contemporary rock music, electronic music, mainstream international acts and local acts.
The festival began in 1992 as a Sydney-only show with Nirvana as the headliner, and was extended in 1993 to Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide. In 1994, shows in Auckland, New Zealand, and the Gold Coast were added. In 1997 it was announced that that year's event would be the last. The following year promoters, Vivian Lees and Ken West, organised a predominantly electronic and dance festival, however the event was cancelled, and the Big Day Out returned in 1999.
In 2004, due to the popularity of the Sydney event and the hefty price of the headline act, a historic second event was announced for Sydney - the first and so far only time this has happened in the festival's history. The line-up for both days was same except for the smaller local acts.
Like many other modern music festivals, the Big Day Out is held in stadiums which are more commonly designed for major sporting events. All of the Big Day Out locations utilise multiple performance stages, on which different acts will often be playing simultaneously. It is common that the well known international acts will play on one of the two "main stages", which overlook the main sporting ground of the venue, and the lesser known (and often local) acts will perform on smaller stages. All of the stages are within a short walking distance of one another.
A signature feature of the Big Day Out is the "Boiler Room", a large circus-style tent in which the more electronically themed artists perform. This style of venue intends to enhance the sound and ambience of the performance, which can be compared to a Rave.
Other areas at the Big Day Out include a novelty entertainment stage, a signing tent, multiple food and merchandise shopping areas, and one or more designated alcohol consumption areas to which access is restricted to those of the local drinking age. Alcohol at the Big Day Out is limited to those brands who are sponsoring the event and can only be purchased from within the venue.

Internet information
The Big Day Out's media release on the flag issue can be found at http://www.bigdayout.com/news/pressreleases.php?PressReleaseId=27

On January 22, 2007, the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, gave a doorstep interview outside Parliament House, Canberra. The first question he answered related to the Big Day Out and the Australian flag. The interview can be found at http://www.pm.gov.au/media/Interview/2007/Interview2336.cfm

On January 22, 2007, the New South Wales premier, Mr Morris Iemma, declared his total opposition to any attempt to restrict the carrying of the Australian flag. The ABC's report on Mr Iemma's position can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1830927.htm

On January 22, 2007, the leader of the Australian Democrats, Senator Andrew Bartlett, declared his support for the actions of Ken West and the organisers of the Big Day Out. The ABC's report on Mr Bartlett's position can be read at http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1831574.htm

The New South Wales state president of the RSL stated the organisation's opposition to the Big Day Out organisers' attempt to have the event staged without patrons bringing the Australian flag. The relevant media release can be found at http://www.rslnsw.com.au/uploads/BDO&Flag.pdf

Margo Kingston's webdiary response to the Big Day Out flag controversy can be read at http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/1819 Her views are printed under the title, 'Oh no, the flag again'

Dr Clifton Evers, a senior research associate in the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney, has written an opinion piece on the significance of the Australian flag and the Big Day Out. The article titled 'Australia Day - kiss the flag' was published in Online Opinion. It can be found at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=5434

Arguments against discouraging Australian flag carrying
1. It is individuals, not the Australian flag, who promote aggression
Defenders of the Australian flag and the freedom of Australian citizens to carry it claim that the flag itself does not cause violence or aggression.
In arguments not unlike those of the American gun lobby which claims that guns do not kill people, people kill people, defenders of the Australian flag have argued that our national flag should not be banned or its use discouraged because some people use it inappropriately.
This is the position that has been taken by Australia's Prime Minister, Mr John Howard. The Prime Minister has stated, 'Flags don't have legs and arms. If anyone was breaking the law at Cronulla, or breaks the law at any time in the future, they should be dealt with by the authorities.'
A similar position has been taken by the leader of the federal Opposition, Mr Kevin Rudd, who has also argue that the problem doies not lie with the Australian flag but with the roudies who sometimes abuse it. Mr Rudd has stated, 'If you've got a problem with crowd control, you just toss out the people who are mucking up. What is unacceptable is unruly behaviour, in particular, violent behaviour.'
The New South Wales president of the RSL, Don Rowe, has stated, 'If some people are using the flag to provoke others, or if they are using the flag in an inappropriate way, then they should be banned from the concert, not the flag they carry ... If anyone causes trouble at the cricket, they are thrown out. And that's what should happen at the Big Day Out concert. Ban the trouble-makers, not the flag.'
A similar view has been put by New South Wales premier Morris Iemma, who has also argued that the flag is not the issue, those who mistreat it are. Mr Iemma argued that safety at the event was essentially a crowd control question and that the approach of the Big Day out organisers was unacceptable.
Mr Iemma stated, 'It is up to the organisers' own security arrangements and police to deal with anyone using the flag to start trouble.
They deal with the security and the police will deal with any problem-makers and anyone who's going to go along to the event to break the law, and the law will be enforced ... It's not for the organisers to treat our flag with such disrespect. It's an outrageous position and it needs to be withdrawn, withdrawn immediately.'

2. The Australian flag is an appropriate symbol for Australians to carry
Many defenders of the Australian flag being able to be taken to events such as the Big Day Out have stressed its importance as an Australian national symbol.
Joshua van Tongeren, a Sunday Telegraph reader, posted the following comment, 'It is disgraceful that Australians are not allowed the right to bring their own flag to a national event such as the Big Day Out. The flag might represent racism in the minds of the event organisers but the majority of Australians attending the event think otherwise!'
The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, has stated, 'The proposition that the display of the Australian flag should ever be banned anywhere in Australia is offensive and it will be to millions of Australians.'
The RSL national president, Bill Crews, also stressed the importance of the flag as Australia's national symbol, one under which in time of war many young Australians had fought and died.
Mr Crews stated, 'It's an unbelievable thing that you ban Australia's national symbol at any event in Australia.'

3. Alcohol, not flag-carrying, causes crowd violence
The point has been repeatedly made that alcohol was a far greater incentive to crowd violence than flag-carry. Kate Hall, a 19-year-old woman who was distressed by the racist aggression at last year's Big Day Out in Sydney has stated, 'I don't blame the flag. There was a lot of drunk people and it was hot and it wasn't controlled particularly well. I don't think a ban [on the flag] is completely necessary ...'
Ms Hall concluded, 'It's not the Australian flag that's the problem; it's the drunken idiot on the end of the flag.'
Suzanne Taylor, a Sydney reader of the Sunday Telegraph, posted a similar comment, 'Let as many Aussie flags in as possible on the two conditions... Ban the sale and consumption of alcohol And drug test everyone who enters the event.'
Another reader remarked in the same forum, 'Maybe Mr West would be better off banning drugs and alcohol if he doesn't want trouble.'
This point was made at length by Andrew Bolt in an opinion piece published in The Herald Sun on January 24, 2007. Addressing one of the main organisers of the Big Day Out rock concerts, Ken West, Mr Bolt argues, 'So, Ken, it's agreed that we have at your shows some nasty drunks with a tinnie in one hand and flag in the other. But the question for you is this: What's the real problem? What's really causing the aggro? Is it the booze or the flag?'
Andrew Bolt then goes on to suggest that Ken West has failed to take adequate action against drunken louts at his rock concerts because he counts Toohey's and Jack Daniel's among his sponsors.
Another reader of the Sunday Telegraph posted this view. 'I fully agree with wanting to stop anti social behaviour but what is more likely to cause it? Waving a flag or drinking a skin full of beer? I don't see them trying to limit alcohol sales! Perhaps it is something to do with the beer companies sponsoring the event.'

4. If the Big Day Out rock concerts cannot be adequately controlled they should be banned
There are those who have argued that if the organisers of a Big Day Out anticipated they could not control crowd behaviour at these events then the events themselves should have been cancelled.
The federal parliamentary secretary for immigration, Mr Andrew Robb, has stated, 'It is critical as soon as possible that the organisers remove this condition or otherwise I think the concert should be cancelled.'
There were those who felt that the imposition of a ban on the Australian flag was itself grounds for forcing that the events not be held.
The RSL national president Bill Crews said he would back the concert being cancelled if the flag ban continued.
'We'd certainly support that approach if they don't want to change their mind on the banning of the flag,' Mr Crews stated during an interview on Channel 9.
Mr Crews went on. 'This is an incredible decision that I hope organisers will quickly change. It's an unbelievable thing that you ban Australia's national symbol at any event in Australia.'
There were those who proposed that it should be made impossible to stage the events, especially on Government-owned property, while a flag ban was in place.
The New South Wales Opposition leader, Mr Peter Debnam, stated, 'The message to the organisers has got to be straightforward: Embrace the Australian flag or move your event off State Government property.'

5. Attempts to ban the Australian flag from rock concerts are more likely to provoke crowd violence than reduce it
It has been suggested that trying to ban concert goers from carrying the Australian flag is likely to promote crowd violence. According to this line of argument such a ban may be seen as a challenge by young rowdies. It has been argued that a ban of this sort may actually encourage young racists with a sense of grievance to attend the Big Day Out.
Brisbane writer John Birmingham has stated, 'If it's true that there was a bigoted element in the crowd looking for trouble last year, he [Ken West] has virtually guaranteed they'll come looking for more this time around ...'
It has further been argued that attempts to ban or discourage the carrying of flags were doomed to failure. Unless all those attending the event were searched at the gates and those carrying flags denied admittance it was never going to be remotely possible to prevent flag carrying. Even then flags would still be smuggled in and those who carried them were likely to have been further aggravated by the attempt to stop them doing so.
Thus there were many who judged Ken West's comments as well-intentioned but foolhardy as he was never going to be able to enforce his prohibition and his remarks had the capacity to provoke the behaviour he was trying to avoid.

Arguments in favour of limitations being placed on flag-carrying
1. Australia's national flag is becoming a symbol of division, like 'gang colours'
It has been claimed that the Australian flag has been used as a symbol of division to mark one group of people off from another. There are those who have appropriated the Australian flag to support their view of who is a true Australian.
Cultural Studies researcher, Adam Gall from the University of Sydney, has claimed that flag waving is being used by some as a test of loyalty. By waving a flag at another the flag-waver demands 'proof' of unquestioning loyalty to what they think the nation is and what they think 'Australian values' are. If a person 'respects' the flag they get to move about freely and safely. But if a person feels negative about aspects of the Australian state and does not respond as they are supposed to, the flag-waver interprets this as 'proof' that they are unAustralian.
Dr Clifton Evers, a senior research associate in the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney, has stated, 'Acts of violence which use our flag as their emblem may not be common, but they are certainly designed to send a message to non-Anglo groups in our community about who belongs and who doesn't. It's a message which determines who gets to feel safe and who lives with fear.'
It is this use of the flag as a form of intimidation and a mark of division that led Sydney Big Day Out organiser Ken West to discourage its being brought to the Sydney concerts this year.
Ken West was reported as saying, 'I didn't like the behaviour of last year and we have moved the event from Australia Day this year partly because of the way the flags were used. The Australian flag was being used as gang colours. It was racism disguised as patriotism and I'm not going to tolerate it.'

2. During Sydney's Big Day Out in 2006 the flag was a focus of rowdyism
The behaviour of many of those who attended last year's Big Day Out in Sydney was aggressive and apparently racist. Some members of the crowd demanded that others, whose ethnicity they apparently disapproved of, should kiss the Australian flags they were carrying.
Sydney Morning Herald commentator Margo Kingston has noted, 'Last year's event came after the Cronulla riots, where white Australians, mostly young, wrapped themselves in the flag an a sign of aggressive exclusionist nationalism and beat up people of a different colour.'
A number of those who attended last year's Big Day Out festivals have complained about the similar manner in which the flag was used. Jeremy Smith has said he was the victim of an attack by a man carrying an Australian flag at last year's Big Day Out.
Mr Smith has claimed, 'Aggressive nationalism was part of last year's event. Looking back, it was definitely prevalent during the day and from the other Big Day Outs I'd gone to it had been more like a music lover's type of event and this turned into more of a sporting hooligan event ...'
Another young man who attended Sydney's Big Day Out in 2006 has stated, 'One poor bloke was viciously assaulted because he refused to kiss a flag carried by a pack of drunk thugs.'

3. Australia's national flag is not representative of all its citizens
There are those who have suggested that the rapidly changing ethnic composition of the Australia's population make our flag not an appropriate symbol for many of its citizens and thus increase its capacity to be used as a symbol of division rather than unity.
Incorporating the flag of the United Kingdom, Australia's flag is as much a symbol of the country's British past as it is an emblem of an independent Australia. Some critics are concerned by this as they believe that the flag gives primacy to a particular period in Australia's history and to the contribution made by those of British origin at the expense of the nation's Aboriginal citizens and those of other ethnic origins.
Alan Mascarenhas writing in the Sydney Morning Herald on January 26, 2007, noted, 'the face of the nation is changing fast. Perhaps faster than at any other time in its history. Australia, of course, has become one of the most multicultural countries. At the turn of the 21st century more than one in five Australians were born elsewhere. That is a higher proportion ... than in Canada, the United States or any other settler society ... And with Australia's population growing more through migration than by natural causes (the excess of births over deaths), the contribution of such newcomers can be expected to increase ... it would be a shame if ... the flag [were] allowed to obscure the different faces, the different places, the different stories of the nation's newest citizens.'

4. The organisers of the Big Day Out did not ban the flag
Ken West's strong statement of disapproval for the way the Australian flag had apparently been used at last year's Big Day Out in Sydney and his determination that this would not happen again were generally interpreted as a ban on taking flags to the event.
Prior to the event the Big Day Out organisers issued a media release indicating that no ban had ever been issued. The media release read in part, 'The Big Day Out would like to offer the following to clarify its position on "flag banning' at the Sydney show.
Contrary to the reports in the media, it was never our intention to disrespect the symbolism of the Australian or any other flag.
We are not banning the Australian flag but are simply discouraging its use for anti-social purposes at the Big Day Out.
We state unequivocally that flags will not be banned at any Australian Big Day Out show in the foreseeable future.
In recent times, there has been an increased incidence of flags brandished aggressively and this has led to increased tension. Our only intention in discouraging this activity at the Big Day Out is to ensure that our patrons are not subjected to this aggressive behaviour.
With all this in mind and the aim to create a happy, peaceful MUSICAL event, organisers would like to request that fans please leave their flags at home.'
The event's other producer, Vivian Lees, told the Sydney Morning Herald, 'There's no ban on flags and there's no ban on people wearing flags ... It's been beaten up by News Corporation very substantially. I'm flabbergasted by it.'
The organisers appear to be suggesting that the media furore the supposed ban has caused has been misplaced as no ban was ever called for.

5. Some politicians supporting the flag appear to be using it for populist, political advantage
It has been claimed that a number of political leaders have used the flag for short-term political gain. It has further been claimed that some of those politicians who are defending flag-carrying at the Big Day Out are also doing so for political advantage.
Margo Kingston, a commentator for The Sydney Morning Herald, has stated, 'The use of the flag to make an aggressive and race based 'us and them' political statement began in 1997 when Pauline Hanson wrapped herself up in the flag to sell her message.
John Howard then picked up that ball, using the image of the flag whenever he could to ram through his "we will decide" post-Tampa refugee policy and hone his "those who disagree are unAustralian" political weapon. He wrapped his stuff in the flag even more after we waged a war of aggression on Iraq; now those who opposed him were traitors.'
It has further been argued that both the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, and the leader of the Opposition, Mr Kevin Rudd were again seeking political advantage when they challenged Kevin West's attempts to stop the flag being taken to the Big Day Out in Sydney.
Similar claims have been made about the New South Wales premier, Mr Morris Iemma and the New South Wales Opposition leader, Mr Peter Debnam. Mr Debnam has stated, 'The message to the organisers has got to be straightforward: Embrace the Australian flag or move your event off State Government property.'
It has been suggested that these attitudes were prompted by the immanence of federal and New South Wales elections. The politicians referred to have been accused of trying to gain electoral advantage by appearing to support the carrying of the Australian flag at music concerts.

Further implications
The fact that the Big Day Out in Sydney went ahead with flag-waving patrons and a relative absence of crowd aggression was a positive development.
The growing enthusiasm among young Australians for nationalistic or patriotic gestures is not a simple phenomenon. Part of it appears to be a generational issue. As the last Australian generation to fight in a world war reaches advanced old age and dies there appears to be a growing regard among young Australians for their sacrifice. Respectful references to grandfathers who had fought for Australia were a regular occurrence in online comments during the recent flag controversy.
However, there are other dimensions to this development. The 'war on terror' and the growing concern within the Australian government to limit the access of asylum seekers to this country have fuelled a renewed xenophobic attitude among some Australians. This became particularly apparent at the end of 2005 when there were what appeared to be race riots in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla.
There also appears to be a less accepting attitude toward those who come to Australia as immigrants. The former Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs has been renamed the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The Prime Minister, Mr Howard, has maintained, 'This is not condemning cultures, it's just positively asserting the obvious and that is immigration should lead to citizenship and the path is you come to this country, you embrace its customs, its values, its language, you become a citizen.' Despite Mr Howard's assertion to the contrary, this appears to be a large shift from an emphasis on multiculturalism which celebrated and preserved the ethnic diversity of immigrants to this country.
In this context, flag carrying has ceased to be a simple gesture.

Newspaper items used in the compilation of this issue outline
The Australian, January 24, page 13, letters under general heading, `Australians need to start a "reclaim the flag" campaign'.
The Australian, January 24, page 12, comment by John Birmingham, `Take this flag out of my cold, dead hands'.
The Australian, January 27, page 16, editorial, `A flag worth waving'.
The Australian, January 26, page 3, news item by Peter Lalor, `The flag rocks in a Big Day Out for patriots' .
The Australian, January 26, page, 16 cartoon

Herald-Sun, January 22, page 2, news item by McCabe and Benson, `Concert bans "flag of hate"'.
Herald-Sun, January 24, page 25, comment by Andrew Bolt, `Ban the booze'.
Herald-Sun, January 23, page 18, editorial, `Let's proudly fly the flag'.
Herald-Sun, January 23, page 17, cartoon.
Herald-Sun, January 23, page 7, news item by Gerard McManus, `Banning the flag outrages leaders'.

The Australian, January 23, page 11, comment by Prime Minister John Howard, `Don't blame our flag for riots and criminal behaviour'.
The Australian, January 23, page 2, news item by Peter Lalor, `White flag on Big Day Out ban'.
The Age, January 23, page 5, news item by Annabel Stafford, `Labor leader sides with PM in festival flag row'.
The Age, January 23, page 5, news item by Mulvey, `To flag or not? Opinion is divided'.
The Age, January 24, page 21, comment by Larissa Dubecki, `Co-opting a symbol for nefarious purposes'.
The Age, January 24, page 20, editorial, `Patriotism at half-mast'.
The Age, January 27, Insight section, page 9, comment by Tracee Hutchison, `Face it.
Our flag is a divisive symbol'.
The Age, January 27, page 9, news item by A Murfett, `It has a stellar line-up and it's sold out: the Big Day Out is not flagging'.
The Age, January 26, page 2, news item by Zuel and Dunn, `Flag waving stays rock solid at the Big Day Out'.
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