Thread by @clairegcoleman

Don't get me wrong, I think the situation with the Aboriginal Flag was the best possible outcome in the context. Sadly there will be consequences that none of you thought of, that some of us have been discussing for years. People just don't think things through. A thread.

Firstly, people demanded the flag be freed by the commonwealth acquiring it by financial or legal means. This result, what happened, gives power over our flag to the colonisers. Like I said, it was the only solution on offer but still far from perfect.

Secondly, those wanting to "free the flag" so that they and other mob can monetise it are not going to get what they think they are. They will not be able to compete with cheap knock-off products that will now be legal. You can't sell flag t-shirts for $40 anymore.

I can guarantee that cheap t-shirts made in the 3rd world (possibly using slave labour) with our flag on them will hit the market within weeks. Blak businesses who want to sell flag products will not be able to compete.

I predict that next year, on #InvasionDay, Aldi will sell Aboriginal flag towels, thongs, t-shirts and eskies. None of the earnings from this will go to mob, because the flag is now free to exploit. That's all that has happened.

Don't think that Blak businesses will be the ones doing this, because big business and countries with lower standards of living can out-compete any of us. It will not be our mob making the money from this, it will be EVERYBODY ELSE.

The "free the flag" movement was based on a lie that we were not allowed to use, wave, or identify with our flag. We always had the use of the flag but we were not allowed to monetise it without permission. We now can but so can EVERYBODY.

This is not the outcome you think it is. Now, for the rest of time, everybody but mob will earn money from the flag.

You shot us in the foot in the service of a lie.

The flag was always free to use.