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

[XXJingledNerves]

I wish so much they had cancelled.

Totally the right decision to proceed.

They raise a lot of money with the fireworks

They shouldn't have gone ahead.
I don't really think we should be having firework displays at all anymore, really

The current bushfires are much bigger than anything that has been experienced in Australia before and they are still raging. I think it's wrong to shrug and say they are a part of life and nothing out of the ordinary. They are unprecedented in their size and a huge, huge concern. I suspect the death toll will end up being much higher. It's awful to see the footage on the news. I don't understand why people are being so complacent about the situation.

Scott Morrison (climate-change denying Prime Minister of Australia) is tonight hosting a New Year's Eve party at his official residence.

Like bloody Nero.

There are bound to be different opinions. But I am generally not in favour of pious whining about how no one should enjoy anything because, waa, terrible things are going on in the world. I think we should seek out whatever joy we can find.

@BlackCatSleeping agreed.

You only have to look at this thread to see posts from lots of people living in AUS to see how bad it is and how worried they are about either themselves or family. It's heartbreaking.

@boreofwhabylon

He’s an evangelical Christian isn’t he. Do we know if he is an end timer?

Might look like poor taste, but thousands of people have flown there and booked hotels around the area as long as a year ago especially for this. The country need tourism, that will generate money that can help pay for recovery of wildlife and people. Not Australian.

Don't know BettyJean. I have seen it suggested that he might be.

I doubt any single person who lives in a bushfire prone area in Australia, which is almost literally everywhere is the conditions are dire, is unaware about the risk they have to accept to live where they do. Some people may be more relaxed and not do the tasks recommended by the rural fire brigade but most ime do.

Do you live in a bushfire prone area in Australia BlackCat?

Australian here with a firefighter son who is also a volunteer firefighter on his days off. He thinks they should have gone ahead as do most of his colleagues. Cancelling the fireworks wasn't going to change anything and at the end of the midnight fireworks tonight nearly a million dollars had been raised for the Red Cross. The tv coverage was very respectful. Happy New Year from Sydney.

One Australian woman on the news said: 'We don't need any more smoke in the sky right now.' I don't think you can argue with that.

I do appreciate that in the UK we don't have a proper understanding of th Australin ecosystem and the nature of bushfires. However lots of Oz people are saying that these fires are more widespread than previously and that they are happening earlier in the season.

Um, you do know SYdney is a very large international city, OP ? And the fireworks are on Sydney Harbour, with very little likelihood of setting any bit of bush on fire ...

The main problem in Australia is that European farming practices and Western lifestyles are pretty much incompatible with the country.

Australians like to live near the bush but most of them are pretty urban - when I lived there (in the bush) as a country-raised fell-walking Girl Guiding English migrant I had a much better knowledge of how to behave in the bush than my Australian mates. They don't build houses or housing sub-divisions to be bush fire proof, and most Australians are pretty lacksadaisical about fire safety.

And hey - give 'em a break - it's been a tough month and maybe watching deliberate displays of controlled fireworks is a nice change from the bushfire smoke.

Not bothered. Australia is a big place.
The two aren’t really connected imho.

I have no problem with it as a Sydneysider. The money had already been spent on the actual event, and a lot of businesses would have lost money had it been cancelled. The tourists who bring the bulk of the money in are the kind of tourists who’d have no problem cancelling everything days out and making last minute plans in NZ or Asia instead. I don’t see the point in losing 100 million for the sake of purely symbolic solidarity, especially since using it as a fundraiser provides actual assistance.

The fires are obviously horrific, but this is the time of year when this side of the world is plagued by all manner of tragedy. It’s rare our New Years isn’t bookended by fires, and our neighbours are quite often dealing with earthquakes and tsunamis and the like. It’s always a rough time, and climate change pretty much guarantees that it’s only going to get worse. It’s nice to have some bright spots in amongst the disasters, and I think it’s pretty shitty to expect us to cancel our events and wallow while the rest of the world parties.

Also, seriously, lecturing Australians on how we should feel about the fires when you don’t even know what Black Tuesday is? Do fuck off.

YANBU. I said as much on another thread last night.

Fireworks in Sydney while the country is burning - it's Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

Lots of people are saying he's an evangelical end timer - I don't know how true that is - but he is certainly in denial of the link between climate change and his country being on fire.

I dont think the OP was suggesting the fireworks might start fires. I think it's more about the messages being sent out- throwing massive celebrations whilst people lose their homes and possessions.

I doubt any single person who lives in a bushfire prone area in Australia, which is almost literally everywhere is the conditions are dire

The problem is not the country people who know how to make dwellings safe from most bush fires (although once they start crowning over a big area you've lost the battle really). We lived in an area where people knew to keep trees at a safe distance and clear fire breaks.

The problem is urban suburban Australians who want a nice house that looks out onto the bush. But don't know about wind breaks and pre-emptive burning off, and complain when you try to do these things.

And sadly, there are the pyromaniacs - not an urban myth. There really are people who get a lkick out of setting fires.

The money was already spent. Hotels booked, holidays planned around them. Apparently it brings in a vast amount of revenue for the city so might as well have gone ahead. But I do understand what you mean that it seems in poor taste considering the situation over there. I think the city officials were probably stuck between a rock and a hard place.

It felt very poor taste to me as well.

@BonnyConnie, REALLY

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.

Tens of millions of animals and the near extinction of koalas, but there have only been a few human deaths (including firefighters), so that's OK then???

Tone deaf.

@Dolorabelle

I agree with you. Having lived on the edge of one of the gorges in Blue Mountains and then near an urbanized area smack up against a national park, it makes you VERY aware of how many people ignore the RFB advice. Just like those building new houses on flood plains without researching the flood risk or realizing just why the old houses were built high on stilts.