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ABC News
ABC News
National

Aboriginal flag outside Yass Soldiers' Memorial Hall becomes a permanent fixture after controversy and threats

The Aboriginal flag will fly permanently at Yass Soldiers' Memorial Hall, but not before dividing a community over its presence.

Since August, the flag has been installed outside the building, but some within the Yass Valley Council thought the decision was made without due process or sufficient community consultation.

Now, months after the flag was first raised, a decision has been made to keep it there.

In July Yass Valley Council Mayor Allan McGrath raised the idea of raising the Aboriginal flag during a council meeting.

He said it was off the back of a decision from the NSW Government to raise the Aboriginal flag on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

"I thought it was too good an opportunity to miss," Mr McGrath said.

"I put a mayoral recommendation that we do the same at the Memorial Hall in Yass."

A short time later the flag was installed, but not everyone in the council was in favour of the decision.

During a heated meeting some councillors raised concerns about the lack of community consultation.

Councillors argue proper process not followed

One councillor described the motion as a "divisive proposition".

"We are all Australians, and our war dead deserve better than being used in what is assuredly a political debate," the councillor said.

"I am totally against this is as I am against anything that divides us as a nation."

A rescission motion to take down the flag was carried, meaning the flag would have had to be taken down while community consultation took place.

But Deputy Mayor Jasmin Jones argued the flag should stay up while that was happening, and she was successful.

That consultation has since taken place with the Aboriginal Consultative Committee, Onerwal Local Aboriginal Land Council, and the Yass RSL.

A fresh recommendation was made to hold a ceremony where the Aboriginal flag will be taken down, the NSW flag would be raised, and then the flags would be swapped again in a formal process.

In the meantime, the Aboriginal flag will remain.

Threats to take the flag down and burn it

Ms Jones said she was surprised by the response to the idea and did not think it would garner as much controversy as it did.

"Unfortunately, we had some very extreme comments being made such as, 'We will take down the flag and burn it'," she said.

"That is unhelpful in every context."

Submissions about the issue were open to the public, however Ms Jones said key stakeholders decided against holding a public survey.

"The key stakeholder groups considered it to be something that would not benefit from a wide survey," she said.

"We could not control that from being hijacked from outside the Yass Valley."

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