MEDIA RELEASE
January 20, 2026
Labor Vote a National Shame
The Albanese Labor Government has voted down legislation that would have criminalised the burning and desecration of the Australian National Flag — a decision that deeply offends millions of Australians and dishonours those who have served under it.
The Australian flag is not a prop for protest theatre. It is worn on the shoulder of every Australian Defence Force member. It is carried into battle. And it is draped, with solemn respect, over the coffins of fallen soldiers.
I, like many veterans, have buried friends and brothers beneath that flag. Families have received it as the final symbol of a nation’s gratitude. Yet Labor has decided that this symbol deserves no legal protection at all.
This vote flies in the face of the Australian public. National polling shows 77 per cent of Australians believe burning the flag should be illegal. Thousands added their names to petitions calling for action. Labor ignored them.
Deliberately torching the national flag is not political expression; it is an act of contempt aimed at dividing the nation and insulting its values.
Labor’s refusal to act sends a dangerous message: that the desecration of our most powerful national symbol is acceptable, and that the sacrifices of those who served under it are secondary to appeasing fringe activists.
Strong nations protect their symbols because they protect what those symbols represent — unity, service, sacrifice and shared values.
Today, Labor has shamed our nation.
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