Australia's Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has unveiled Coalition plans for an Australian National Symbols and Heritage Protection Bill, which would introduce a new federal offence for serious public desecration of the national flag and create tough penalties for damaging war memorials and monuments. The proposal comes amid growing frustration over a spate of vandalism incidents and follows an episode in which a flag was burned during an "Invasion Day" protest in Brisbane. Taylor argued that while political criticism of Australia is acceptable, actions such as flag-burning cross a line and warrant a custodial penalty of up to a year in prison.

The bill would also make it harder to change the date of Australia Day, entrenching January 26 in Commonwealth law so that any future change would require a national plebiscite. The announcement follows several attacks on memorials in Victoria and Queensland, including vandalism and theft at a war memorial in Dobie, graffiti reading "death to Australia" and "death to the ADF" at the Beaufort war memorial, and damage to Melbourne's 155-year-old Pioneer Monument. Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash and Army veteran Phillip Thompson both backed the reforms, framing them as a defence of free speech that stops short of permitting destruction of national heritage.