Red Flag is an Australian newspaper which is published bi-weekly by the Trotskyist organisation Socialist Alternative.[2][3] It is also associated with the podcast Red Flag Radio.

Red Flag
"A world to win"
TypeNewspaper
Owner(s)Socialist Alternative
PublisherRed Flag Press Inc.
Founded12 June 2013; 11 years ago (2013-06-12)[1]
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersTrades Hall
54 Victoria St
Carlton South
Victoria 3053
CityMelbourne[1]
CountryAustralia
ISSN2202-2228
Websiteredflag.org.au

History

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The first issue of Red Flag was published on 12 June 2013.[1]

In July 2014, the newspaper was criticised after publishing an issue featured a front page depicting then Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott with a razor to his neck and the caption "One cut we'd like to see", in protest of the Abbott government's proposed budget cuts.[4] In an interview, Abbott stated that the image "should not have any place in our public discourse".[3] The editors refused to apologise and defended the cover as an homage to a 1977 poster and political slogan "Give Fraser the razor!", while accusing critics of hypocrisy for defending Abbott from a "clearly metaphorical" threat at the same time as his government was deporting refugees to face real threats of violence. They nonetheless withdrew the edition due to "legal concerns".[5]

In 2019, Red Flag editor Ben Hillier's articles provided on-the-ground coverage of the siege and student rebellions at Hong Kong Polytechnic.[6] Hillier's eyewitness account has been documented in his book, The Art of Rebellion: Dispatches from Hong Kong.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Red flag: newspaper of Socialist Alternative". Trove. Socialist Alternative Melbourne Collective. 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  2. ^ "The ISL in Australia". LIS-ISL.org. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b Hurst, Daniel (3 July 2014). "Tony Abbott calls razor-against-neck image for newspaper cover 'awful stuff'". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Rolf Harris found guilty on 12 charges of indecent assault". Mamamia. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  5. ^ Chang, Charis (1 July 2014). "Abbott's throat slit on newspaper cover". NewsComAu. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  6. ^ Hillier, Ben (14 November 2019). "Liberty or death in Hong Kong". Red Flag. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  7. ^ Hillier, Ben (August 2020). The Art of Rebellion: Dispatches from Hong Kong. Australia: Spark Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-0-646-82119-1.
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