Shutterstock
New South Wales Labor leader Luke Foley has vowed to fly the Aboriginal flag on the Sydney Harbour Bridge if elected Premier in 2019. Currently the flag is only hoisted on the landmark for 15 days of the year: on January 26 and across Reconciliation and NAIDOC Weeks. This change would see it fly alongside the Australian flag as a permanent fixture.
Foley's push is part of his party’s wider policy for indigenous recognition. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph today, he observed: “I think there is unfinished business when it comes to our relationship with Australia’s first people.” Bit of an understatement, but at least the intention is there.His sentiments follow a year-long campaign lead by Kamilaroi woman Cheree Toka. Speaking to NITV last year, she said flying the flag 365 days a year would “recognise and acknowledge Aboriginal people.” She also stressed, “I don’t want any flag replaced. We have a flag to represent Australia and the Aboriginal flag is to represent the First Peoples of Australia, which is an acknowledgement to them."Cheree’s change.org petition is sitting on 74,834 signatures at the time of writing, just a hair short of her 75,000 goal.She has been trying to amass political support for her campaign for some time, and claims to have put in four request to chat to current NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian about the issue, who she says has rejected each of her requests."It's so disheartening to know it comes down every year," Cheree told NITV. "If it's so important to put up then why not just leave it up there?"