“People who had flags on their cars, 43 per cent of them believe the White Australia Policy had saved Australia from problems that other countries had experienced,” she said.
“Fifty-six per cent of those with flags on their cars feared their culture and its most important values were in danger compared to 34 per cent of non-flag flyers.”
Professor Fozdar says of the people surveyed who do fly flags, the common factor was fear.
“You can’t actually ask outright a question about ‘do you feel fearful?’ I guess the question that I asked that was closest to that was the one about fearing the loss of one’s cultures and most important values,” she said.
“Certainly 56 per cent of people with car flags agreed with that statement, but there was definitely a feeling of, I guess, being under siege.”
