Qld Man Refuses to Take Down Aussie Flag
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Ninemsn (Sydney), October 10, 2008
A Queensland man says he will disregard an order by a council in south-east Queensland to lower his Australian flag, after a neighbour complained it was “offensive”.
Logan City resident Aaron Wilson erected a five metre flagpole eight weeks ago to honour friends who served in Iraq.
On Tuesday, council staff at Logan City just south of Brisbane contacted Mr Wilson to tell him a neighbour had complained.
Mr Wilson was told he could face legal action if the flagpole was not removed.
“I find it astonishing that anyone could find the Australian flag offensive,” he told the Courier-Mail.
“My family and friends have served for the country and the very least I can do is have a flag to show my appreciation for Australia.”
A Logan City Council spokeswoman said there was concern the flagpole could fall down in high winds.
She said Mr Wilson needed a building permit, because the pole was only 4.5m from the kerb and, under the Queensland Development Code, it should be at least 6m from the front.
Mr Wilson said he would not be moving the flag.
“I can’t see how moving the flag back a bit is going to stop it being offensive,” he said.
Logan City mayor Pam Parker said she backed Mr Wilson in his desire to fly the national flag.
However, Ms Parker could not rule out his having to move the flagpole.
“I am offended that somebody should complain to the council about the Australian flag, and whoever they are should hang their head in shame,” she told ABC Radio.
Ms Parker said the flagpole had “setback issues” which she would discuss with council officers.
(Posted on October 9, 2008)
Comments
In news from England a man who had thieves invading his garden and stealing things from his shed erected a barbed wire fence after the 3rd theft.
The local council made him remove it because “a thief might be injured while climbing over it.”
A good solution to this kind of problem is to erect a fence in natural, unstained, unfinished wood. Then buy many cans of pepper spray and liquid pepper sauce and soak it into the wood.
The thieves will get a nasty surprise, especially when the fumes get into their eyes. And with all the curries that are consumed in England, there are some pepper sauces over there that are much hotter than anything found in the US or Mexico.
Posted by margaret at 5:42 PM on October 9
From Seasame street….
‘who are the people in your neighbourhood, in your neighbourhood, in your neighbourhood they’re the people who you meet each day’
…who odviousily do not give a rats about the Country they are in or the sacrifices made in it’s name.
Granted, I am assuming that it is a non-Australian who complained as it is not stated in this article, but who else would surely.
NB a piece of paper does not make you an Australian.
Posted by Gen X in Oz at 6:18 PM on October 9
Makes you wonder who complained?
We all know how the article would read if Mr. Wilson complained about a neighbor’s Lebanese or Vietnamese flag…
Posted by Stone Greaser at 7:28 PM on October 9
Nobody has complained that the flag’s Australian. It’s an apparently legit question of public safety and structural soundness per *pre-existing* regulations.
Notice that regulation requires placement of the five meter-high flagpole six meters away from the curb. Why? Presumably so a tip won’t hit a pedestrian or a moving car, etc (6m >5m).
Posted by oqyt at 8:44 PM on October 9
There seems to be no justice for whites no matter what country we live in and built up. Forigners are not only invading but ruining our way of life and governments just like OURS, helps them do it and pays for them to do it!!
Posted by lucylou at 9:04 PM on October 9
Maybe this man should complain that his neighbor “offends” him and ask for his removel from the neighborhood.
Posted by RHG at 9:23 PM on October 9
“It’s an apparently legit question of public safety”
Bull. I’ve seen this rhetoric with the Confederate flag: They always come up with some legal thing that would never had been brought up unless the complainer did not like the flag. We have to understand that these folks will lie lie.
Posted by at 12:23 AM on October 10
Good point there Stone Greaser. You must be from Chicago where whites still use common sense.
Posted by Unemployed WASP at 1:17 AM on October 10
To oqyt who posted:
Nobody has complained that the flag’s Australian.
Let’s review the opening sentnece of the article:
“A Queensland man says he will disregard an order by a council in south-east Queensland to lower his Australian flag, after a neighbour complained it was “offensive”.”
Clearly it goes well beyond a public safety issue for the anonymous neighbor. The original request was to have the flag lowered because the neighbor considered the flag offensive. If they thought it was a public safety issue I doubt very much the neighbor would have used such language. If I found some publicly displayed obejct to be a potential hazard, I would use clear language to describe why I thought it was a hazard and certainly not describe something like a flag or a religious object as offensive (even if I thought it was) if I wanted it removed.
However, I would agree the setback issue is potentially legitimate. (In reasonable locales, a building inspector could determine if the flagpole is well achored like say a telephone pole..)
Posted by Stillwarm at 4:09 AM on October 10
Nobody has complained that the flag’s Australian. It’s an apparently legit question of public safety and structural soundness per *pre-existing* regulations.
Oh, but they did complain that it was offensive. First sentence of the article, genius.
Of course, nobody’s surprised that a non-white would complain about the Australian flag. The really shocking thing is to find a non-white proud of it.
Posted by at 5:35 AM on October 10
I fly a Welsh flag every January 22 and 23 to celebrate Rourke’s Drift Day in the fervent hope that someone will eventually be offended. Thus far, I have been sorely disappointed in this respect.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 4:01 PM on October 10
“I fly a Welsh flag every January 22 and 23 to celebrate Rourke’s Drift Day in the fervent hope that someone will eventually be offended. Thus far, I have been sorely disappointed “…
M.Scott
…………….
Without a doubt doubt they haven’t the vaguest idea what it represents. (And most of the offendibles probably never heard of Wales anyway.) Maybe you should post an explanatory placard also, and see what irate complaints you can reel in. Good luck.
Posted by ghw at 5:05 AM on October 12
Shame on the Australian authorities no to support this man! I guess patriotism is as much an object of ridicule there as it is here in the former USA.
When are Caucasians going to rise up and take back our countries?
Never mind, it’s just a rhetorical question.
What we need is a commonwealth of White nations with a common constitution whose raison d’ etre is the preservation of White, Western culture. Any non- Whites living in the commonwealth are welcome to stay as long as they are willing to accept the standards.
Posted by at 10:41 AM on October 13
A perfectly good substitute for barbed wire fencing, Margaret, is multifloral rose. Nobody who tries to climb through it repeats the experiment.
There is another plant, native to southern Africa that has been successfully grown in the southern US. The thorns are truly amazing. The natives used to surround their “kraals” with it, so lions, leopards and hyenas couldn’t get at them or their livestock at night. One of my friends has his farm surrounded with it in Oklahoma.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 4:48 PM on October 13