The Coalition wants to make flag burning a crime. It’s a revival of a decades-old battle

This week, the Coalition released a policy it promised would “protect and defend our national day, our national flag and our war memorials”.

Under this policy, the burning of the Australian flag and desecration of war memorials would be criminalised.

The Coalition also promised to legislate to prevent the date of Australia Day being changed without a plebiscite.

These are long-standing themes on the populist right of Australian politics.

They are prominent in the discourse of the right-wing digital campaigning organisation Advance, and in the Murdoch media.

News24 presenter Peta Credlin, the former chief of staff to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, has warned a seismic shift in Australian politics would occur if the Coalition did not seize issues driving One Nation’s support.

She included the issues of financial insecurity, disrespect for national symbols like the Australian flag and mass migration.

As the next federal election draws closer, Australians must get used to hearing more and more about flag politics and Australia Day debates.

While these issues recede from view from time to time, they have a long history in Australian politics, and are shaping up to be recurring themes in conservative political discourse in the months ahead.

Flag politics In February, Angus Taylor made his first speech as Liberal Leader in front of an array of Australian flags – no Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander flags in sight.

It was a reminder of the array of flags that appeared behind Abbott as prime minister, and a signal of the populist direction in which the Liberal Party was moving.

In September last year, Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson wore the Australian flag in the Senate.

They have called for the burning of the flag to be criminalised .

Australia has had a national flag day since 1996, when it was introduced by the Howard government.