An Australian renter has expressed outrage after a real estate agent requested that her Australian flag be taken down prior to a routine property inspection, leaving the tenant shocked and bewildered.
Incident Details
The woman, identified as Bree O'Brien on Instagram, shared her frustration with social media users, captioning her post: “Seeing as TikTok won’t let me post this…rant over, but can someone seriously explain, please?” She recounted that the agent arrived for a routine house inspection and immediately noticed the Australian flag near the front door. According to O'Brien, the agent stated that the inspection would not commence until the flag was removed.
“Since when has it become illegal to have an Australian flag up in Australia?” she questioned. Despite her confusion, O'Brien complied with the request without argument. “I just looked at her and said, ‘What? Okay, sure. Whatever.’” The agent explained that she personally had no issue with the flag, but the homeowner believed it could attract unwanted attention.
“She obviously proceeded to tell me that she doesn’t have an issue with it – it’s whatever,” O'Brien said. “But the owner believes that by having it up, our house might become a target.”
Double Standards Alleged
The renter then pondered how the situation would differ if the flag represented a different cause. “And all I could think in the back of my head was, ‘I can almost guarantee if that was a rainbow flag for Pride Month or if it was a Palestine flag, there is no way we’d be asked to take it down,’” she asserted. She directed a question to social media users, asking when it became unacceptable to display the Australian flag as a sign of appreciation for the country.
“Like, I would just love to know – can someone please tell me – since when has it been that you’re not allowed to be proud to be Australian and live in such a beautiful country?” she asked. “I just don’t understand how that is not allowed, and that automatically means that we’ve got a target on our backs. But that if we had another flag up, we would be cheered and ‘oh my goodness, it’s so good you guys are doing that.’”
Public Reaction
Commenters largely supported O'Brien, with many expressing anger over the request. “Why would it be illegal to have the country's flag on a house?” one person asked. “I've seen plenty of houses with Australian flags here in Western Australia.” O'Brien replied, noting that many neighboring homes also display the flag without issue. “Yep, there are heaps up in our street too. Have had it up for months with no targeting,” she wrote.
Another commenter added: “Wow! I'd be interested in why they said you couldn’t have it up as well.” A third wrote: “They have no right to ask you to take it down. At all.” SkyNews.com.au has reached out to O'Brien for further comment.
