Sophie Conlon
An updated flag policy will see the City of Mount Gambier move two flag poles from the Cave Gardens/ Thugi to outside the civic centre.
The decision was made at council’s January meeting after heard from confused community members asking why some flags were on display while others were not.
Council chief executive officer Sarah Philpott said this confusion arose because the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags were flown at the Cave Gardens/ Thugi, while the Australian, state and council flags were on display at the civic centre.
“We do have members of our community who ask where the other flags are because they are the ones that are prominent on the main street and the flag protocol requires that the Australian Flag is around civic buildings,” she said.
“The intention of this is to bring all the flags together at the civic buildings so there is no confusion about where the other flags are being flown.
Both Ms Philpott and mayor Lynette Martin assured the flags were currently flown in accordance with council policy and Australian National Flag protocols
“However, there seems to be some confusion by flying the flags on the poles in the Cave Gardens precinct,” Ms Martin said.
She said the flag poles at the fountain were put there when council offices were in the old Town Hall and there were now three flag poles outside of the civic centre that could be often missed.
“People just get confused, so we thought it would be wise to move two flag poles so we can fly all the flags together,” she said.
The Australian, state, Indigenous, Torres Strait Islander and council flags will fly at the civic centre, while special event poles will remain near the fountain to fly flags such as the Pride Flag on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.
Council has also committed to reviewing flying First Nations Flags at other council business locations and more flag poles could be installed at these locations based on cultural feedback.
