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Current Issue of Crux Australis: Issue No. 95
The most recent issue of Crux Australis is No. 95 [Volume 23/3] issued for the period July - September 2010.
The contents are:
| Vexillogistics (editorial) | Tony Burton | page 99 | |
| Moments Like These ... | various media | page 100 | |
| Flying the First Flag of Queensland Separation: The Evidence | Rod Fisher | pages 101- 113 | |
| Caught in the Breeze (book review) | Tony Burton | page 114 | |
| The Legacy of Leichhardt: For Battle Girt - Ray of Hope or No Hope? | Tony Burton and John Vaughan | pages 115 - 119 | |
| Ray Martin Cops Criticism Over Flag Debate | various media | pages 120 - 121 | |
| And the Lights Went Out in Leichhardt | Tony Burton | pages 122 - 130 | |
| Media Shouting Match and other comments on 60 Minutes event | Deborah Snow, Ralph Kelly, Jonathan Dixon, Ralph Bartlett and Mark Rodda | page 131 - 141 |
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| Survey Reveals Majority of Australian Want a New Flag | Ausflag | page 142 | |
| Flag Will Change When Queen Dies: FitzSimons | Mosman Daily | page 143 | |
| Advice from the Queen's Land - The Flag Debate Encapsuled | The Moreton Bay Courier | page 144 |
SUMMARY
This issue of Crux Australis is focused on two important flag stories. The first major article is on the Queensland Separation Flag of 1859. Dr Rod Fisher, a Queensland historian, provides a comprehensive account of the creation and use of the flag used to celebrate the creation of Queensland as a separate colony. He has retrieved a large number of contemporary newspaper accounts of the event and its subsequent usage and he reveals the designer of this significant historical Australian flag.
The other major article is a series of media reports and some of the exhortations and excoriation that accompanied the 60 Minutes television debate on the Australian Flag. There was fury from the Australian National Flag Association against Ray Martin and the producers of 60 Minutes, especially for their decision to broadcast their programme on Anzac Day. There was an acrimonious debate held at Leichhardt Town Hall that included defenders of the national flag disregarding the values they claim for the national flag by their extreme lack of civility towards those who would wish to see a change in the design of the Australian flag. A number of photographs and stills from the broadcast illustrate what was, in effect, the revival of the long-dormant debate on the Australian national flag. Little new was put forward in the arguments, but the quality of the debate sank to new lows in both tone and integrity.
The cover features the young Australian round-the-world solo sailor, Jessica Watson, whose yacht proudly bore the Australian flag; though it was a pity that its depiction was faulty. A new book of essays on the Australian flag - Caught in the Breeze , published by Blemish Books, is reviewed. It includes an article by Tony Burton, editor of Crux Australis.
The issue concludes with an historical comment on the Queensland Separation Flag that could equally apply to the contemporary debate on the Australian National Flag.
Commentary by Ralph Kelly, web-master