Kevin Atkinson knows his history, which is rooted deep in the red gums that line the Murray River. But he says a recent decision by a local council against flying the Aboriginal flag is removing that history from view.
“If they want [Aboriginal] people to respect them and their history, they gotta do the same to us,” the Bangerang elder says. “That’s the way that you move forward together, instead of two different groups going in two different directions.”
Bangerang country straddles the Murray River, taking in parts of north-east Victoria and the southern Riverina in New South Wales. One of the largest towns on the NSW side is Corowa, described as the birthplace of federation because it hosted a conference in 1893 that paved the way for the formation of the Australian commonwealth in 1901. It’s a history the town proudly advertises – the local shire is called the Federation Council.
In November, the Federation Council voted to remove the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags from inside council chambers and exclusively fly the Australian flag on all flagpoles in the shire. It did, however, commit to flying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags on “available flagpoles” during Naidoc and Reconciliation weeks.
The change was proposed in a draft document titled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protocols. It also proposed not allowing welcome to country ceremonies for council events unless they were “approved by an adopted council resolution” and instead relying on an acknowledgment of country – which does not need to be given by a traditional owner.
The motion containing the draft protocol passed five votes to four.
When Guardian Australia visits, one week out from 26 January, Australian flags strung from almost every shop and pub hang limp in the summer heat and flutter from the bonnets of passing cars. Flagpoles stand tall in the front yards of many homes.
There are no Aboriginal flags to be seen.
‘A symbol of unity’
The Corowa mayor, Cheryl Cook, says the proposed changes to the flags “were driven by a desire to return to a standardised civic protocol”, and that the council’s position is that the Australian flag serves as “the primary symbol of unity for all residents, regardless of background, and by focusing on the national flag in the chambers, council aims to represent the shire as a single, cohesive community under one sovereign emblem”.
She says the changes to welcome to country were to ensure “transparency and fiscal responsibility in how ratepayer funds are allocated”.
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“While we acknowledge the spiritual and cultural significance these ceremonies hold for many, Council must balance ceremonial costs with our broader infrastructure and service obligations to the entire community. We continue to respect the right of traditional owners to practise their cultural obligations independently.”
In practice, there will be very little change: the council did not fly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags on public flagpoles, only inside council chambers; and it did not have welcome to country ceremonies at most council events.
But Bangerang and Wiradjuri people, who share custodianship of the region, say the proposal sets aside their history.
In October 2023, the electorate of Farrer – which includes Corowa, and is held by the federal opposition leader, Sussan Ley – recorded a 75% no vote in the failed referendum to create a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous voice to parliament. In Corowa’s three polling booths, the no vote ranged from 73% to 77%.
A year later, a group of masked people marched under a neo-Nazi banner through the town centre.
Joanne Atkinson, a Bangerang and Wiradjuri woman and Kevin’s first cousin, says the decision to exclusively fly the Australian flag is a “ripple effect” of the failed referendum.
“We are a melting pot, Australia has become that,” she says. “I think the issue is, recognising other people shouldn’t be at the risk of un-recognition of our people, and disrespect of our people.”
Cook says acknowledging the “deep agricultural heart” of the region “does not negate the history of others”, and that her comments on a shared Australian identity “reflect a sentiment heard from many residents who wish to see a focus on what brings us together as citizens of one nation”.
“While we understand that some members of the Bangerang and Wiradjuri communities may feel differently, Council’s role is to represent all feedback and identity of the constituency as a whole.”
Councillor David Harrison was one of the four to vote against the draft proposal. He is concerned the town’s reputation is taking a hit.
“I can understand how Corowa is now known as the place where we have 40 neo-Nazis march up and down our main street on a Saturday morning. Now we’re starting to remove flags. I can understand how someone can see it cascading,” he says.
“We need to draw a line here and say that this is not what our community is about.”
‘The history is there’
This stretch of the Murray is the birthplace of many significant figures in Aboriginal political history. Cummeragunja Aboriginal mission – where Yorta Yorta man Sir Doug Nicholls was born – is just 140km away, and many Bangerang people were moved there in the 1930s, when Lake Moodemere Aboriginal reserve was shut down.
Lake Moodemere is across the river from Corowa, tucked away near the Victorian town of Wahgunyah. It was a significant site where Bangerang people and other tribes went to seek refuge from colonial disruption; when they were moved along by the state almost 100 years ago, it left Corowa without a visible Indigenous population.
“There was Indigenous people there … they weren’t encouraged to stay there,” Kevin Atkinson says.
“Most of those places on the river were black – Indigenous camping grounds. The history is there.”
People in Corowa who speak to Guardian Australia are more concerned with ageing infrastructure than which flags are flown. Of the more than 35 people asked, only one says they agree with the council’s proposal.
“I feel like they need to put a bit more information out to the community on what is driving that decision,” a local woman named Danielle says. “Everybody has a right to be represented … the Aboriginal [flag] in particular deserves a place up there with the Australian flag.”
In late November, Ethan Williams, a Wiradjuri man and chairperson for the Southern West Yiradyuri Clans Land, Water and Sky Country Aboriginal Corporation, wrote to Cook to express his “deep concern and opposition to the proposed changes”.
In a statement to Guardian Australia, Williams said traditional owners have “inherent and ongoing rights and obligation to care for country and to ensure our culture, languages and stories remain strong for future generations”.
“This includes speaking up when symbols and decisions in our region affect how First Nations peoples are seen, respected and included in civic life.”
A draft of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protocols document was placed on public exhibition for submission, which ended on 24 December 2025.
The council says it will now consider the public submissions, before it is voted on again in March.
