The Aboriginal flag will fly side-by-side with the Australian flag every day of the year if the Labor Party wins government in NSW.
Opposition Leader Luke Foley planned to make indigenous issues a key part of his platform at the state election against Gladys Berejiklian next February.
Mr Foley said it was the ‘right thing to do’ and would move Australia closer to reconciliation with Aboriginal people.
The Aboriginal flag will fly side-by-side with the Australian flag every day of the year if the Labor Party wins government in NSW
The policy was inspired by a yearlong campaign by young indigenous woman Cheree Toka, whose petition gathered more than 74,000 signatures
‘The Sydney Harbour Bridge is the most recognisable image of Sydney right around the world… reconciliation with the First Australians has to occur in Sydney,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
‘I’ve felt for many years it’s our oldest continuing problem as a society — the ongoing consequences of the dispossession.’
The Aboriginal flag only flies atop the bridge, with the national and NSW flags, 15 days of the year – on Australia Day and during Naidoc Week and Reconciliation Week.
Mr Foley’s policy was inspired by a yearlong campaign by young indigenous woman Cheree Toka to keep the flag flying permanently.
Her petition has gathered more than 74,000 signatures since it was launched a year ago, making political leaders start to take notice.
‘The Aboriginal flag identifies and holds a history of who we are. It is acknowledging our ownership of the land for past and present generations and has just as much right as the Australian flag to fly,’ she said.
Opposition Leader Luke Foley planned to make indigenous issues a key part of his platform at the state election against Gladys Berejiklian next February
‘The Aboriginal flag identifies and holds a history of who we are. It is acknowledging our ownership of the land for past and present generations and has just as much right as the Australian flag to fly,’ she said
Flying the flag all year is one of two major indigenous policies Mr Foley was committed to, along with establishing a treaty with Aboriginal people.
He said some would attack his flag policy as pure symbolism when there were more pressing issues, but for him it was a matter of leadership.
Mr Foley continued with his unconventional ideas with a plan to assign all Labor ministers a mentor and send them to ‘minister school’.
They would be coached by former ministers, senior bureaucrats, and business leaders to prepare them for government.
Mentors would include former NAB boss Cameron Clyne along with Mr Foley’s personal sensei Prime Minister Paul Keating.
Mr Foley also planned to assign all Labor ministers a mentor, like former PM Paul Keating (pictured) and send them to ‘minister school’
The plan would also deflect accusations that the current crop of Labor MPs were too inexperienced, as the party has been out of government since 2011.
Mr Foley said political parties were ‘hopeless’ at at mentoring and developing their own talent and this would equip them for responsibility.
‘We’ll be engaging in professional development with them as you’d expect any 21st Century organisation to do,’ he said.
He said it would help avoid disasters like the Sydney train delays and allow ministers to focus on the big picture not just the 24-hour news cycle.