At a press appearance on Monday, Bandt was chastised for refusing to stand alongside the Australian national flag, which was removed by a member of his staff before he spoke. Later, he told the Daily Mail Australia that the flag symbolizes colonialism and dispossession.
Bandt declined to take a miniature flag when the two appeared at a ceremony together, according to Peter Khalil, Labor MP for Wills.
‘I was at a naturalization ceremony when I saw Adam Bandt. ‘All the new Australian citizens there were waving those small Australian flags, and I was waving one as well,’ Khalil told Sky News.
‘He was sitting next to me, and I said, ‘here you go, mate, why don’t you have one of these?’ and he just refused. It struck me as strange.’
Khalil’s remarks came after Senator Lidia Thorpe of the Greens called the Australian flag a “obscenity.”
The indigenous senator told 3AW that the Australian flag depicts a colonial invasion that massacred and murdered thousands of Aboriginal women, men, and children.
‘That flag is ludicrous for First Nations people.’ It’s a blasphemy. I am not represented by the Australian flag. It does not represent my family, nor does it represent many of the tribes and countries that make up this country.’
Senator Thorpe’s remarks appeared to be in favor of Bandt, who has been chastised for removing the flag from a press conference on Monday.
Senator Jacinta Price of the Northern Territory remarked, “It’s becoming a little bit immature for leaders to be virtue-signaling about who loves Aboriginal people more.”
Former Labor senator Stephen Conroy remarked, “Adam Bandt is a desperate individual attempting to gain attention.”
‘Here’s a guy who honestly believed he’d be a minister after the election, who truly believed he’d have his hands on the reins of power, and he’s absolutely furious as hell about it.’
‘To be honest, we should just ignore him since he’ll keep doing these cheap stupid stunts to attempt to attract attention.’
The Union Jack is in the upper left corner of the flag, which was originally flown after federation in 1901 to honor the history of British settlement.
‘This flag represents dispossession and the enduring pangs of colonisation for many Australians,’ Bandt said on Monday.
‘We can have a flag that reflects all of us by signing a treaty with First Nations’ peoples and going to a republic.’
Bandt has always had the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in the background of his past TV interviews, but never the national flag.
Later, Bandt said that the Union Jack symbol offends Indigenous Australians.
He also used Monday’s press conference to call on Labor to ‘negotiate’ the 43 percent carbon reduction target with his party.
The Greens, who hold a record 12 seats in the Senate, seek more ambitious goals, but Anthony Albanese has stated that the amount is non-negotiable.
Bandt did not promise to supporting legislation enshrining the targets, which means he might veto them, much as former leader Bob Brown did in 2009 when Labor’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was vetoed.
‘Labor is bringing a weak target to Parliament,’ he added, referring to the Great Barrier Reef’s demise.
‘Labor has become a roadblock to more climate action, refusing to listen to the will of the people who just gave a strong mandate for climate mandates in the election.’
The new government has already informed the UN of its revised plan, claiming that it makes little difference if the target is not approved by Parliament.
After carrying a 26-28 percent reductions aim to the last election, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has ruled out coalition support for legislating the 2030 target.
The Greens, according to Bandt, would not follow the coalition’s lead and be obstructive.
He stated, ‘We’re prepared to be productive.’
‘But the actual question, the fork in the road, is whether or not the government is willing to speak and consider reasonable adjustments.’
After the coalition aired attacks on the ALP during the campaign, claiming the Greens would drag it to the left, Labor ruled out any partnerships with the tiny party.
Bandt also said that the Energy Security Board made a mistake by recommending gas and coal-fired generators as a long-term part of the energy mix, rather than renewable energy and storage, which is progressively taking over the national electrical grid.
According to the board’s chair, integrating coal and gas businesses in a planned capacity mechanism will have no influence on the country’s shift to renewable energy.
Instead, Bandt wants to transition to renewable energy as rapidly as possible.