Fans of Australian music are distraught after waking to the news that the country will no longer participate in the enormously popular Eurovision Song Contest. The country’s nominated contestant, Montaigne, has been officially withdrawn from the 2021 edition, and the government has steadfastly refused to sanction the participation of any other singer in the international extravaganza at any time in the future.
In the face of scathing criticism across social media platforms, Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, Paul Fletcher, justified his government’s shock decision.
“Australia contributes so little to the overall voting tally of the Eurovision Song Contest every year that there is no point us taking part. We have never won the event so we should leave it to countries who have won the event and who collect more votes to take responsibility for the survival of the competition.”
Average Australians and music devotees slammed these comments.
“The Australian government is blatantly ignoring the evidence,” claimed one outraged fan. “Dami Im finished second in 2016 and we’ve had three more top 10 finishes – look at the facts Minister!”
Other comments were just as negative:
“We may have a smaller population, but we actually got a lot more votes than bigger nations…open your eyes Fletcher!”
“Absolute disgrace – makes me ashamed to be an Aussie”
” gov totally out of touch with Aussies. They must go!”
“Lame excuse. Lame decision. Lame govt”
“Wake up to the modern world – or get out of government”
Experts also fear that if Australia does not embrace the contest, it will become an international pariah and that this could impact negatively on so many aspects of daily life in the country.
Minister Fletcher thanked the organisers of the event for inviting Australia into the competition in 2015, but explained that the land Down Under no longer shared the values of the majority of European nations.
“Most of these countries are transitioning to modern technology with a whole host of new devices which can create and share music, but we in Australia will continue to rely on devices like cassette tapes and CD players.”
“We will not be pressured by outsiders, or even by citizens in our own country, to embrace any of this new technology – nor will be brainwashed into thinking that this technology represents the future. Even if Australia is the only country in the world using cassette tapes in the near future – we will continue to use cassette tapes.”
Minister Fletcher also explained that the decision supported his party’s policy of allocating only minimal funding to Arts and Entertainment.
“We believe this money could be better spent on a CD deck in a mining truck, or a juke box in the break room of a coal seam gas site.”
Image:www.eurovisionworld.com
kieranblakewriter 