Thousands of people have signed a Change.Org petition calling for the iconic Sydney fireworks display on new year’s eve to be scrapped, and for the money to instead go to drought and bushfire relief.
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The petition, which has thus far gathered close to 6500 signatures, reads:
“With Australia facing drought and now catastrophic fires, decimating towns as it tears across our country, the thought of spending MILLIONS of dollars on a firework display when it could be used to support and rebuild our country instead is infuriating … It’s times like these when we as a nation need to look at our priorities and I believe the new year should be welcomed in the Aussie way; by giving our fellow Australians a helping hand.”
Last year’s Sydney fireworks display ran for 12-minutes, and featured new effects as well as 500kg more explosives than the previous year.
The event cost an estimated $5.8 million to put on, and organisers claim that it brought a benefit of $133 million to the local economy.
While the money for this year’s display has likely already been allocated and spent, it’s not unheard of for major cities to cancel new year’s eve events .
Paris chose to celebrate new year’s eve in an “atmosphere of sobriety” following the 2015 terror attacks, with various events scaled back.
On Wednesday of this week, a fireworks display on Sydney Harbour was slammed on social media, with one deeming it to be in “shockingly bad taste” in light of the state’s bushfire emergency.
A display scheduled for Thursday was cancelled.
One of the best fireworks displays of the year. 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/8GtkXJeIKe
— Sydney Fireworks (@FireworksSydney) November 13, 2019
