Tony Abbott’s announcement that Australia will send more troops to Iraq was made in front of no fewer than eight flags, bringing the flag-count-in-announcement index to an all-time high.
This follows a six-flag announcement only last week, prompting social media discussion, jokes, and comparisons to the number of flags used by other world leaders.
Here, I’ve collated the number of flags in backdrops to prime ministerial announcements posted to Tony Abbott’s YouTube channel, with the addition of his election night acceptance speech and the recent six and eight flag announcements: