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

[XXJingledNerves]

I wish so much they had cancelled.

I think they should have been cancelled, having a celebration with fire whilst people are losing their homes because of fire seems very insensitive. Still, it meant that the people at Scott Morrison's NYE party had a good display to watch and that's all that matters isn't it?

It doesn't matter about the money, that's gone already - this is a sunk cost fallacy

Half a billion animals have died and 7 people and the fire rages on and on killing everything in its wake

To have the fireworks looks like people are fiddling while Rome burns - it's grossly insensitive to me

I agree that should have cancelled. I haven't seen them but v poor taste when so much of their country is suffering. I agree too that these huge displays are a waste but then I'm not a fan of fireworks at all.

Australian here (although I live abroad now). Bushfires are normal in the country, you expect them to happen every summer (although the scale this year is unprecedented). The death toll so far is fairly low. It doesn’t compare to Black Tuesday, it wouldn’t occur to me to cancel the fireworks over a fairly routine occurrence. While I’ve been shocked by the scale of the fires I didn’t make the fireworks connection beyond wondering about the risk of starting more fires. So long as the appropriate safety checks have been made I don’t see an issue.

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

People have died. Houses have been lost and there has been an enormous effect on the environment, that will most likely never recover. It's not just about the money. It's about celebrating while people are living in these terrible conditions. A lot of the firefighters are volunteers and they aren't getting paid for what they are doing. The country is in crisis. It's in poor taste to have a big party while the bushfires are burning out of control.

Agree OP, being asked to go “ooh” and “eeeeh” at pretty fireworks while the devastating effects of fire are right there next to the lovely spectacle? Crass in the extreme.

It does seem to be a rather strange out of synch decision by the Australian government. The plight of Australians in harms way and the dreadful effect to the wildlife and countryside are heartbreaking to see in the press and on television.

Incredibly distasteful in the current situation.

But then I find use of fireworks pretty repugnant anyway.

Bugger off @Lardlizard

" It's about celebrating while people are living in these terrible conditions."

Well let's cancel everything then
Hong Kong should cancel their light show because if the 6minthbkjng civil unrest.

We should cancel ours because people are living in poverty and are homeless....

@BonnieConnie what the heck is Black Tuesday, I think you just showed how out of touch you are with your country of birth, where the current fire situation is described by every expert as unprecedented, and the general sentiment is that fireworks tonight are deeply insensitive.

By “most” I presume you mean “you” or did you take a global poll?

Stop it now. You look silly.

Aust here too and public opinion is it should have been stopped, at least of the people I know anyway. Today has been so unimaginably horrific and it's far from over yet.

I spent a couple of years in Oz, so not an Aussie but did get to enjoy a couple of years watching the fireworks.

The fireworks are often seen as promoting tourism- as one of the first places to see in the new year they get played around the world repeatedly with the backdrop of the harbour being seen by many millions of people. Fireworks are also banned for private sale in Australia (for good reason!), so it's often the only time people get to watch a display.

Despite the bushfires, I don't think they were wrong to go ahead. It must have brought a lot of joy to many people at a difficult time. I don't see it as disrespectful to enjoy yourself during difficult times, I think that all Australians will be very grateful to all the firefighters and respectful of those who have lost their lives or homes.

The problem wasn't the cancelling, it was totally ignoring the risks including atmospheric pollution when it was planned. They were talking about the trees on the planet being replaced in 1941, we've had the Green Party, FOTE, & Green Peace, screaming about the planet to a deaf audiance. The same ignorant people ignored cancer from smoking, asbestos, knife crime, teachers being attacked at school, & mercury in dental fillings. An amazing 13YO has taken the challenge, and many are saying to her parents, fancy letting their daughter take all that flack. Well done to anyone who tries to change this madness. YANBU though, but it should never have been on the cards.

Don’t think Australians are know for their good taste and sense of decorum

Ridiculous sweeping generalisation. It won;t be evryday Australians who have made the decision about the fireworks - it will be the powers that be. The Australian govt hasnt come out of this exactly smelling of roses - pretty poor behaviour of Morrison to go on holiday.
I've never been to Australia, but I would guess there is a disconnect between the govt and those people affected by the crisis. Just as there is in this country when London based politicians take their time to drop in on flooded areas and do very little to actually help.

I think remarks about 'Australians not being known for good taste' are (apart from not being true) totally out of order. I hope our Australian Mners know that the vast majority of us are thinking of them and hoping more than anything that their families and homes are safe and that this crisis is brought under control as soon as possible.

Australian

Agree with the show going ahead

They used it as a fundraiser

Don't see what point there would be in cancelling

@BinkyandBunty Black Tuesday fires en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Tasmanian_fires

Recently moved Australian here. No, I don’t believe the Sydney fireworks which really have been paid for already should be cancelled.

Not only would the money have gone to waste but they can (have in the past) turn this to a fund raiser for the rural fire brigade and those needing emergency funds. Sadly, these fires have been more extensive and seem a little earlier than usual but they are a fact of life for anyone living in Australia. Just like cyclones (I lived in the blue mountains in 90s when all that area to Hawkesbury burned then, I am also a queenslander and have lived through cyclones. Albeit not the cat 5 ones, but my family have had those pass right over them ).

But it is really important to remember how much money those fireworks generate in tourism. Cancelling them would be detrimental to this tourism, some of which then feeds out to the rest of Australia. It has taken a long time for the North Queensland tourism industry to recover from the devastating cyclones.

No. There are ways to have done this sympathetically and with positive benefits and hopefully they have done this. Cancelling an already paid for event in Sydney or Melbourne that attracts international tourism would not be something I feel would help.

@Blinkybunty me or you? On Black Tuesday close to two hundred people died of fires. The widespread nature of these fires is indeed shocking and unprecedented. But it’s really not that bad given how worse things have been in the past. The impact has been small relative to real disasters like Ash Wednesday or Black Tuesday. In contrast it’s difficult to get as worked up about this as British people. You wouldn’t understand if you didn’t grow up there. Bushfires are very much a normal part of life, if they stopped it would be a cause for concern and controlled burnoffs might be conducted in some areas for the benefit of the ecosystem which needs bushfires. What is happening now is deeply concerning in that it’s abnormally widespread and should prompt the government to reconsider its fairly ineffective stance on climate change but it’s not really cause for national mourning yet (I hope it stays that way but I know better than to assume it at this point).