I guess this is more proof that politicians are politicians – no matter how funny their accent is.
From the Herald Sun
The Howard Government has been accused of pinning its political colours to the mast in a funding row over the Australian flag.
Primary and secondary schools are being paid up to $1500 to install flagpoles and fly the national flag. But a demand that participating schools invite Howard Government MPs to their flag-raising ceremonies has sparked claims by Labor that the Government is politicising patriotism.
Application forms for the cash initially asked schools to tick a box that said: "I agree to invite a federal parliamentarian to attend a flag-raising ceremony". The new forms require schools to "arrange attendance by an Australian Government representative". They must also erect a plaque saying: "This flagpole was a gift from the Australian Government".
Victorian schools have been the most patriotic to date — nearly 550 of the 1473 Australian schools to request a flagpole are Victorian. About 300 dedication ceremonies have been held nationally.
Deputy Opposition Leader and education spokeswoman Jenny Macklin said the conditions were insulting and an abuse of taxpayers’ cash. "Our Australian flag should be a symbol of democracy — not one of political abuse by an arrogant Howard Government," she said. "Schools must be allowed to invite whomever they choose to a flag-raising ceremony without fear of losing funding."
But the Government’s parliamentary secretary on education, Liberal Pat Farmer, denied non-Government MPs were excluded from the ceremonies. He said he was not sure why the application forms had been changed.
Opposition, minor party and independent MPs were welcome to attend the ceremonies, but a government MP would officiate. "It should never exclude any federal member," he said last night. "I don’t know why that was done. We don’t have a problem with anybody from Federal Parliament attending those functions, it’s just that it’s the Federal Government’s initiative and they are paying the money. "We just want to make sure there is a representative from the Government there."