Flying the flag for a fight nobody else wanted to have

July 22, 2026 — 7:30pm

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Anthony Albanese has become remarkably good at making Labor arguments disappear. Not by winning them, but by ensuring they never get to the floor of the ALP national conference.

So when the ratbags at the left-wing Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) lobbed a proposal to rip the Union Jack from the nation’s flag – a suggestion that had News Corp websites predictably frothing before delegates had even picked up their lanyards – it stood out precisely because so few other fights had survived the prime minister’s pre-conference clean-up.

“We need to strip away the constant reminders of the old ruling class and colonial empire,” the union policy states. “Symbols of oppression, like the Union Jack on our flag and offensive colonial statues, must be removed from public life.”

The proposal sits alongside calls for greater solidarity with Indigenous Australians, reviving Labor’s commitment to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full, despite the referendum result. It also includes higher top marginal tax rates, wealth and........

© Brisbane Times