to have felt sick to my stomach seeing the Sydney fireworks...

[XXJingledNerves]

I wish so much they had cancelled.

It's not just about money spent and raised though. Plenty of people are claiming that the fires are being caused by climate change and that all of us should be more mindful of pollution. It is awfully polluting to set off fireworks.

Why must every single discussion about/concerning Australia on mumsnet end up in slagging off or implying all most Aus are horrid racists

It's weird. I've come to the conclusion over the last couple of threads about AU that Brits just don't like Aussies at all. Which, you know. Fine, I guess ? But a bit rude to indulge in it when the country is in crisis.

(I lived in the UK for 3 years, and strangely, didn't run into the nastiness, slagging off and use of stereotypes in person - maybe it's a Mumsnet thing?)

I've no idea what one person's racist tweet has to do with the fireworks going ahead, and I'm not sure it's good for my peace of mind to read back and find out what the tenuous link is!

I think that is a separate issue though as to why these fireworks should have been cancelled at the last moment when people had already made plans around it Besidesthepoint. Certainly, It one that needs discussion in the longer term.

YANBU. I'm not Australian myself but after seeing the pictures of the fires, the red skies and the people on the beach, going ahead with the fireworks just seems really tasteless.

It is awfully polluting to set off fireworks

It was nothing in comparison to the smoke we've been living with, and it's currently much worse elsewhere along the east coast and inland than it is in Sydney atm.

I actually hate the fireworks and despise the amount of money that goes up in smoke, but really, they've been, they've gone, yes, everyone has registered disapproval...what more is there to say, really ? The City decided not to disrupt the local economy. It's tasteless. It's done.

Perhaps they should have cancelled as a mark of respect, but aren't fireworks a bit of a waste anyway?

It is awfully polluting to set off fireworks

This made me laugh. Once you’ve lived with red skies and burnt ash over the ground, you don’t actually care about the smoke from a few dozen fireworks 😂

@JanesKettle glad I'm not the only one that feels this! I also lived in U.K. For a time - never encountered it. am Married to a Brit too, never a word said.
I am constantly stunned by the sweeping statements made on mumsnet about Australia/Australians. You never see such absolute statements made about other nationalities...
Admittedly I'm a sensitive sort tho so it does upset me - when I should prob just shrug it off... but I really like mumsnet...🤷🏻‍♀️

I've come to the conclusion over the last couple of threads about AU that Brits just don't like Aussies at all

I think that’s a bit of sweeping generalisation isn’t it? In the same way it’s totally unreasonable to suggest that all Australians are racist, it’s equally unacceptable to suggest all Brits hate Australians on the basis of a couple of threads. All you can positively judge is that the posters making anti-Australian comments are guilty.

@JanesKettle I didn't know Brits didn't like Aussies, how weird. One of my aunts is married to an Aussie and he's one of the nicest people I've ever met. They used to live in Victoria before they moved back here - my cousins grew up in Oz and they still have the accents and I think they identify as Australian. The Ashes is always a fun time in their house

differentnameforthis yes the money was spent but somehow the fireworks were cancelled in other smaller cities. Perhaps they could have been scaled back in Sydney and a portion of funding allocated as a symbolic gesture ifykwim
Agree with Iborgia that consideration of the impact on business appears to dominate decisions. The economic impact is considered as though it operates in a vacuum. It appears there is an assumption that income from celebrations over NYE would be threatened by change to fireworks , yet I feel as though many feel it already has changed and they would be greatful of some recognition that Australians are grieving and wish to support communities impacted Perhaps I'm dreaming but I believe many would accept scaling back of Sydney and Melbourne fireworks.

@ midsummabreak Perhaps they could have been scaled back in Sydney and a portion of funding allocated as a symbolic gesture ifykwim

How can they allocate funding that has already been spent, though? They can't pop back into The Firework Shop (which doesn't exist) and ask for their money back! The whole night is planned for approx. 12 (if not more) months in advance.

Like I said, we'd have more chance of stopping 2020's fireworks going ahead.

As an Australian, I am glad they went ahead. Every year we have people whingeing and trying to get them cancelled, and I am sick of it. Many firefighters have come forward and said they supported it going ahead. 'The show must go on', yes, some people were suffering and lost their homes, but we don't make the world stop every single time something bad happens. There is comfort in continuing on, and doing things we've always done, rather than crumble. The city fireworks, like Sydney's, were over a body of water. Over the harbour. Not posing a fire risk. Sadly, life goes on, life continues and we can't stop living due to tragedy elsewhere. It is very sad - a bushfire came within 2 kms of my house and I nearly had to evacuate. Rushing around getting important documents together, photos, a change of clothes, and sitting and waiting for updates if we had to go. It's terrifying.

But there is comfort in not surrendering to the hopelessness. By that I mean that keeping people's spirits buoyed and not stopping living is important. Resilience. Defiance.

@BlackCatSleeping But you could say it's in poor taste to celebrate anything, then, when anyone is suffering.

Why have a birthday party when there are homeless?

Why have a Christmas day feast, when there are homeless and people lost their homes to fires and have no home, let alone the traditional Christmas dinner?

If you take that theory to it's full conclusion, no one would celebrate anything, anywhere. Because there is always some tragedy, some suffering. We cannot stop living, we just cannot. These people would not want us to stop living.

@TSSDNCOP It does seem to be a rather strange out of synch decision by the Australian government.

Fireworks have nothing to do with the Australian government. They are hosted by local councils, and the fireworks themselves are paid for by corporate sponsors. All the council does is pay for security guards, etc. NYE fireworks are privately owned and organised. No govt can interfere there.

savethecat but if you know the Australian persona and history then I would imagine there is an element of Australian Spirit about it- for example, "not letting it get us down" and "standing in the face of adversity" about it.

That is exactly what it is about!

@midsummabreak You're still not getting the point Perhaps they could have been scaled back in Sydney and a portion of funding allocated as a symbolic gesture

They could not scale them back, they had already been bought and planned.

They could not allocate a portion of funding, because was ALREADY SPENT.

Last night raised around a million for the Red Cross and victims of the fire. If they cancelled the fireworks, they wouldn't have raised that money. Keeping the fireworks raised money for those in need. Cancelling would have meant loss and hardship to families.

*It is awfully polluting to set off fireworks

This made me laugh. Once you’ve lived with red skies and burnt ash over the ground, you don’t actually care about the smoke from a few dozen fireworks* 😂

It's more about being a hypocrit asking for the rest of the world to stop polluting and then put on a big polluting show.

What have pyrotechnics got to do with bush fires? I don’t see the connection

I would also like to add this link below to my above explanation on how fireworks/pyrotechnics are dangerous. Please stop firing explosives or releasing open flames into the air.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7842463/Dozens-animals-burnt-alive-German-zoo-New-Years-Eve.html

I've just read the story about the German zoo. Tragic.

I still can't believe that posters on this thread cannot understand the connection between fireworks and fires

YABU. Those fireworks would have been paid for and bought way before the wildfires happened. The government could have either not gone ahead with something that was already paid for, screwed a load of businesses out of revenue if they hadn't paid in full or gone ahead with what had been agreed and paid for. To ask a government to cancel a huge event a week before hand in the hope that the money could be used for something else is fantastical.

I still can't believe that posters on this thread cannot understand the connection between fireworks and fires

Because the Sydney fireworks in particular are done on the Harbour from barges and from skyscrapers and the bridge. So over water and skyscrapers. The risks of the weather and dry conditions are taken into account. This year they were delayed while the wind died down. Other Sydney fireworks were cancelled as they were judged too risky in a total fire ban. They often still run in drought conditions if the wind has been assessed as being low risk.

@SarahNade thank you, I did not realise that when I wrote my post. I hope the folks at the fireworks dug very deep in their pockets. Happy NY.

Maybe we should all cancel every year. I mean there are always people dying and suffering all over the world at NYE, and all year round. Im not entirely joking!

We Were in Hell”: Thousands in Australia Seek Refuge on Beach as Wildfires, Dry Storms Rage
Many residents are even taking to the seas on boats to ensure safety in the face of the encroaching inferno

Maybe we should all cancel every year. I mean there are always people dying and suffering all over the world at NYE, and all year round. Im not entirely joking!

You know maybe we should - but we won't - it's not going to happen.. But the Australian government could have made a stand over this - but they chose not to just like every goverments chooses not to notice the suffering of the people in their homeland
It'll go on and on and never change. But it feels good to at least draw attention to their crappy behaviour.