Australian Flag banned at the BDO | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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Australian Flag banned at the BDO

Sensibly they have reversed it(I think) or at least claim they have been quoted out of context.
Flags won't be banned but are 'unwelcome'?


http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21095538-2,00.html
 
TigerForce said:
I could be wrong but I think the Australian flag became more recognised by Australian people when the Yanks showed heavy patriotism just after the 9/11 attacks.

I travelled the US in May 2002 and still saw many US flags (big & small) in front yards of many houses.

Probably even more after the Bali bombings too, as that is when it hit home that these terrorists were not just anti-US, but anything that was non-Islam.

It's a shame it took a tragedy to bring out the patriotism in many Australians, particularly the younger generation.....but the more these political-corect wowsers and over-sensitive do-gooders complain and try to enforce ridiculous rules and regulations on the majority in favour of migrant and religious minorities, then the more people will become more patriotic and nationalistic.

But these morons don't see this....they think by banning the flag, or discouraging people from wearing the flag, and sweeping it under the carpet, is going to  solve whatever problem they think we all have.

Tigers of Old said:
Sensibly they have reversed it(I think) or at least claim they have been quoted out of context.
Wouldn't that be a surprise.
http://www.bigdayout.com/news/pressreleases.php
(edit) No they have still banned it. :mad:

Out of context?.....they must be using the Sheik's spin-doctor, are they? :hihi
 
the claw said:
wasnt going to post until the krakouer thread is unlocked but....

It's not going to happen santa. You're just cutting your nose off to spite your face.  You've had more comebacks than Lazarus so why not accept the forum isn't always going to be 100% how any of us want it personally, stop sulking, and get on with things like the rest of us do when things don't go our way?
 
Liverpool said:
Out of context?.....they must be using the Sheik's spin-doctor, are they? :hihi

Funny you should mention that liverpool. From the BDO website..........

"Unfortunately the media reports yesterday were not quoted accurately and we must thank the participating media for wasting everybody's time including the Prime Minister John Howard, Premier Morris Iemma, NSW RSL President Don Rowe, Keysar Trad (a confidant of the Mufti Sheik Taj el-Dene Elhilaly) and Burt Lane of the Australian National Flag Association... "


Just a question on the event. Does anyone know if alcohol is sold there?
 
rosy23 said:
the claw said:
wasnt going to post until the krakouer thread is unlocked but....

It's not going to happen santa. You're just cutting your nose off to spite your face.  You've had more comebacks than Lazarus so why not accept the forum isn't always going to be 100% how any of us want it personally, stop sulking, and get on with things like the rest of us do when things don't go our way?

I thought Johnny Farnham was leading that list...... :hihi
 
Legends of 1980 said:
Just a question on the event. Does anyone know if alcohol is sold there?

I believe so, but you can only drink in certain areas and the only way to enter these areas is by presenting a wristband which you get as you go in, after proving you're legally old enough to drink. There'd be riots if you WEREN'T allowed to drink alcohol at BDO, that's for sure.

As for the flags, I really could not care less. I don't see how a flag-wearing drunken tosspot is demonstrating his patriotism (which, as has been discussed, is the norm for flag wearers) but I'm not going to stop him doing so. As it's Australia Day, perhaps some restraint should have been used in the request. But it seems that they were only requesting flags be kept to a minimum, not banned, so that's probably fair enough. Watch out for the biggest influx of flags in the history of BDO... ;)

Anyone looked at this from the flip side...do we really want drunken tosspots draped in our flag on public display? Kind of a odd image for a country to present, isn't it? Or is the behaviour forgivable, because of the flag?
 
Well said sky

The reaction has been over the top as expected..

Not sure wether to laugh or cry at some of the stuff i have heard and read , they have even hauled good ol
Pauline out of that sewer she inhabits to make a comment ;D
 
skybeau said:
Legends of 1980 said:
Just a question on the event. Does anyone know if alcohol is sold there?

I believe so, but you can only drink in certain areas and the only way to enter these areas is by presenting a wristband which you get as you go in, after proving you're legally old enough to drink. There'd be riots if you WEREN'T allowed to drink alcohol at BDO, that's for sure.

As for the flags, I really could not care less. I don't see how a flag-wearing drunken tosspot is demonstrating his patriotism (which, as has been discussed, is the norm for flag wearers) but I'm not going to stop him doing so. As it's Australia Day, perhaps some restraint should have been used in the request. But it seems that they were only requesting flags be kept to a minimum, not banned, so that's probably fair enough. Watch out for the biggest influx of flags in the history of BDO... ;)

Anyone looked at this from the flip side...do we really want drunken tosspots draped in our flag on public display? Kind of a odd image for a country to present, isn't it? Or is the behaviour forgivable, because of the flag?

So if this is the case, the organisors thought that the flag would be the problem, not drunken yobbos? :headscratch ???
 
skybeau said:
Anyone looked at this from the flip side...do we really want drunken tosspots draped in our flag on public display? Kind of a odd image for a country to present, isn't it? Or is the behaviour forgivable, because of the flag?

Skybeau,
Then the problem is the 'drunken tosspot'.
Let's say most people who get drunk in pubs/clubs on a Saturday night wear jeans....do we ban jeans from being worn?

Secondly, a few on this forum think that people have the right, in a democratic country such as Australia, to drape themselves in other country's flags....they plead for tolerance from Australians to let people do this.
Yet now, when it is our turn, being Australia Day weekend, for people to wear their flags or whatever clothing that has an Aussie flag emblazoned upon it at an event.....people such as the BDO organisers, and a few of the do-gooders out there, think it should be banned, or discouraged, yet it was only the Australian flag singled out, not ALL flags.
Where are OUR rights, in OUR democratic country then?
It wreaks of double-standards and hypocrisy.
 
skybeau said:
Or is the behaviour forgivable, because of the flag?

I don't see any logic behind that question sky. Why do you ask such a thing?



skybeau said:
But it seems that they were only requesting flags be kept to a minimum, not banned, so that's probably fair enough.  Watch out for the biggest influx of flags in the history of BDO... ;)

The original comments were that flags would be confiscated. The damage control have changed that to flags are being discouraged. Big difference.

I agree about a possible influx of flags, and I am also concerned that yobbos might abuse flags more than ever in the future because of the Mr West's comments singling out OUR national flag.

Anyway seems there's been a backdown over it all which is a good thing. Deal the yobbo's on their merits, not on what they're wearing.
 
skybeau said:
Legends of 1980 said:
Just a question on the event. Does anyone know if alcohol is sold there?

I believe so, but you can only drink in certain areas and the only way to enter these areas is by presenting a wristband which you get as you go in, after proving you're legally old enough to drink.  There'd be riots if you WEREN'T allowed to drink alcohol at BDO, that's for sure.

As for the flags, I really could not care less.  I don't see how a flag-wearing drunken tosspot is demonstrating his patriotism (which, as has been discussed, is the norm for flag wearers) but I'm not going to stop him doing so.  As it's Australia Day, perhaps some restraint should have been used in the request.  But it seems that they were only requesting flags be kept to a minimum, not banned, so that's probably fair enough.  Watch out for the biggest influx of flags in the history of BDO... ;)

Anyone looked at this from the flip side...do we really want drunken tosspots draped in our flag on public display? Kind of a odd image for a country to present, isn't it? Or is the behaviour forgivable, because of the flag?

So we should then ban all flags from the tennis then shouldn't we?
There is specific incidents that have caused trouble at rod Laver already, by why no bans?

Double standards.
 
The whole issue was blown out of proportion to what was stated on the BDO website in the first place.

Aussie media have a bit to answer for IMO. It is starting to *smile* me to tears....
 
oh ffs

people stop playing the poor persecuted aussie here
the reason they are discouraging it is in direct reaction to the behaviour of people wearing the aussie flag , it has nothing to do
with political correctness or appeasing minorities or some grand anti australian conspiracy
had there been hordes of trouble makers wearing serb or lebanese flags last year no doubt it would be those flags being targeted
so lets not get too precious here

look i agree it is wrong to try and ban the flag but in the grand scheme of things
it is simply one mans ill thought out attempt at trying to reduce the chances of trouble at his event

nothing more nothing less

as for the aus open comparison does ken west run that event? no sot really relevant
 
skybeau said:
Anyone looked at this from the flip side...do we really want drunken tosspots draped in our flag on public display? Kind of a odd image for a country to present, isn't it? Or is the behaviour forgivable, because of the flag?

Yep, to me thats the key point. I respect the flag. I'd like to change it by removing the top left hand corner, but it is still my flag and I have a lot of respect for it. To me, a aggressive bully staggering around draped in a flag intimidating people, opening stubbies with it, sitting on it, mopping his brow in the moshpit, is not good.

From this thread, it seems the mere mention of the flag promotes outrage regardless of the issue or its context. I used to be a scout when I was a kid. We had to study how to treat the flag for a few days before we were allowed to raise it on the pole, same at primary school. How to fold it, store it, never let it touch the ground all that. To me drunken bullys wearing the flag is disrespectful. Nobody seems to have thought about that.
 
feisty tige said:
The whole issue was blown out of proportion to what was stated on the BDO website in the first place.

Aussie media have a bit to answer for IMO. It is starting to sh!t me to tears....

Feisty,
What do you think the BDO website said in the first place?
And secondly, why state ANYTHING about the Australian flag to begin with?
It was the organisers that started all this...not the media, not the public, but the BDO organisers themselves.

All they had to do was just deal with any troublemakers, whatever they are wearing.

For them to single out OUR flag, and then try and put a ban/discouragement on Australians wearing/bringing THEIR nations flag to an event on the Australia Day weekend....now THAT is something that sh!ts me to tears.

Don't blame the media Feisty....that's what poor old Sheik Hilaly and his supporters do all the time....and all this "taken out of context" garbage.
If they hadn't come up with this ridiculous idea to begin with, there would be nothing to take out of context.
Its passing the buck, and about time people took responsibility for their actions and words.

outcast said:
oh ffs
people stop playing the poor persecuted aussie here
the reason they are discouraging it is in direct reaction to the behaviour of people wearing the aussie flag , it has nothing to do
with political correctness or appeasing minorities or some grand anti australian conspiracy
had there been hordes of trouble makers wearing serb or lebanese flags last year no doubt it would be those flags being targeted
so lets not get too precious here
look i agree it is wrong to try and ban the flag but in the grand scheme of things
it is simply one mans ill thought out attempt at trying to reduce the chances of trouble at his event
nothing more nothing less
as for the aus open comparison does ken west run that event? no sot really relevant

Outcast,
Firstly, it was Mr Ken West in 'The Age' yesterday said this:

Event organiser Ken West was quoted as saying fans' behaviour last year in the wake of the Cronulla riots and the recent ethnic violence at the Australian Open tennis tournament had forced his hand."The Australian flag was being used as gang colours. It was racism disguised as patriotism and I'm not going to tolerate it,'' the newspaper quoted Mr West saying

...as you see, it was Ken West himself who used the Australian Open tennis as one of his reasons for banning/discouraging the Australian flag from being brought to the BDO concert.
Yet, how many Aussie flags were flying during the tennis biffo?
I saw a few Serb, Croat, and Greek ones....and have they been banned at the BDO concert?
No.

And about the 'poor persecuted Aussie' and 'appeasing minority group' comments.
Let me ask you this:
Why do you think there has been an upsurge in young Australians wearing the Australian flag at events like the cricket, tennis, and BDO?
Why do you think Australians wore Aussie flags during the Cronulla riots?

I'll tell you why...because the normal, everyday Aussie way of life is being eroded by people like Mr. West, who target and single-out things like the Australian flag for a concert.......yet if any idea of banning Croat/Serb/Greek flags at the next Australian Open would be vilified as a racist act, the organisers labelled bigots, and the equal-opportunity board swamped with calls from angry migrants.

Can you imagine the uproar, if on Reconciliation Day, an event banned the Aboriginal flag, using Redfern and Palm Island riots as an excuse to ban it?

But hey, because someone like Mr. West is singling out the Aussie flag, we're all supposed to shut-up and take it.
Then people wonder why Australians are slowly becoming more intolerant to minority groups and left-wing do-gooders.
 
outcast said:
oh ffs

people stop playing the poor persecuted aussie here
the reason they are discouraging it is in direct reaction to the behaviour of people wearing the aussie flag , it has nothing to do
with political correctness or appeasing minorities or some grand anti australian conspiracy
had there been hordes of trouble makers wearing serb or lebanese flags last year no doubt it would be those flags being targeted
so lets not get too precious here

look i agree it is wrong to try and ban the flag  but in the grand scheme of things
it is simply one mans ill thought out attempt at trying to reduce the chances of trouble at his event

nothing more nothing less

as for the aus open comparison does ken west run that event? no sot really relevant

yep.  All this bloody political correctness garbage, excuse me while I chunder.  I'd put a little vomiting yellow head here but I don't have one, I don't have the samuel johnson hula girl either now I look at it.

Political correctness is about pandering to the prevailing dominant views, 'political' maximising resources or status, 'correctness'.  That is, speaking or acting in ways that please the most people.  The backlash against so-called left political correctness happened 10 years ago, its dead, get with it.  The only purposes it serves these days is to keep puffy-chested simpleton broadcasters and tabloid comunmists in a job.

Howard, Iemma, Rudd, by jumping up and down all outraged are the ones being politically correct.
 
tigersnake said:
Yep, to me thats the key point.  I respect the flag.  I'd like to change it by removing the top left hand corner, but it is still my flag and I have a lot of respect for it.  To me, a aggressive bully staggering around draped in a flag intimidating people, opening stubbies with it, sitting on it, mopping his brow in the moshpit, is not good.

Security at an event like the BDO should target an aggressive bully, staggering around, intimidating people....whether he is wearing a flag or not.
Bannig/discouraging the flag at the event isn't going to stop these 'bullies' from attending and getting up to their usual hijinks.

You respect the flag because it's your flag...but you want to change it?
That's a contradiction and a half!  :-X
 
Liverpool said:
tigersnake said:
Yep, to me thats the key point.  I respect the flag.  I'd like to change it by removing the top left hand corner, but it is still my flag and I have a lot of respect for it.  To me, a aggressive bully staggering around draped in a flag intimidating people, opening stubbies with it, sitting on it, mopping his brow in the moshpit, is not good.

Security at an event like the BDO should target an aggressive bully, staggering around, intimidating people....whether he is wearing a flag or not.
Bannig/discouraging the flag at the event isn't going to stop these 'bullies' from attending and getting up to their usual hijinks.

You respect the flag because it's your flag...but you want to change it?
That's a contradiction and a half!  :-X

So if they are wearing an aussie flag and punching people its 'hijinks', if its a Lebanese flag, what is it then?

As for the contradicion, yes it is, but like most people I'm not a cardboard cuttout stereotype. Here's another one, I really hate Adelaide, but I like Ruccuito.
 
Liverpool said:
Outcast,
Firstly, it was Mr Ken West in 'The Age' yesterday said this:

Event organiser Ken West was quoted as saying fans' behaviour last year in the wake of the Cronulla riots and the recent ethnic violence at the Australian Open tennis tournament had forced his hand."The Australian flag was being used as gang colours. It was racism disguised as patriotism and I'm not going to tolerate it,'' the newspaper quoted Mr West saying

...as you see, it was Ken West himself who used the Australian Open tennis as one of his reasons for banning/discouraging the Australian flag from being brought to the BDO concert.
Yet, how many Aussie flags were flying during the tennis biffo?
I saw a few Serb, Croat, and Greek ones....and have they been banned at the BDO concert?
No.

And about the 'poor persecuted Aussie' and 'appeasing minority group' comments.
Let me ask you this:
Why do you think there has been an upsurge in young Australians wearing the Australian flag at events like the cricket, tennis, and BDO?
Why do you think Australians wore Aussie flags during the Cronulla riots?

I'll tell you why...because the normal, everyday Aussie way of life is being eroded by people like Mr. West, who target and single-out things like the Australian flag for a concert.......yet if any idea of banning Croat/Serb/Greek flags at the next Australian Open would be vilified as a racist act, the organisers labelled bigots, and the equal-opportunity board swamped with calls from angry migrants.

Can you imagine the uproar, if on Reconciliation Day, an event banned the Aboriginal flag, using Redfern and Palm Island riots as an excuse to ban it?

But hey, because someone like Mr. West is singling out the Aussie flag, we're all supposed to shut-up and take it.
Then people wonder why Australians are slowly becoming more intolerant to minority groups and left-wing do-gooders.

thanks for making my point re the aus open

the fact that mr west mentions the aus open trouble leads me to suspect if he had any control
over that event he would be banning croat and serb flags...

as for the upsurge in nationalism? who knows for sure but doesn't change the fact that the
behaviour of these people was unacceptable.

don't make excuses for them
 
Is Ken West a marketing genius?

All this free publicity for his event - the BDO - the press will be there - TV Cameras everywhere - thousands more will attend to have a ring side seat or to wear an Aussie flag in protest.

One drunken yobbo wearing an Aussie Flag as a cape - and it will be all over the news that night and in the following mornings papers. What great coverage and Ken West has not had to spend a cent!

The sad issue is that Australia Society (Sydney in particular) through its growth and evolvution has undercurrents of racism and racist violent behaviour which makes Ken West's marketing exercise work!

Come to think of it Australia has always been like this - originally the English settlers and Officials against the Irish settlers - then against the Germans who settled the Barossa and Clare Valleys of South Australia - then against the European refugees from WWII (wogs the lot of 'em) - then the Asians (chinks or dim sims the lot of 'em) - then the subcontinent people (bloody towel heads) and now the middle eastern immigrants.

And down through our short history our treatment and tolerance of the Aborigine has been most gracious. Not!

We truly are not a very tolerant people - we reckon we are but in truth we are not!