John Farnham is one of a handful of iconic Australian artists that will likely live on in our culture for decades to come.
But he was not happy in the slightest when he saw and heard a bunch of anti-lockdown protestors using one of his legendary songs to blast their message.
Dozens of people organised a demonstration in a Melbourne shopping centre at the weekend to rally against the restrictions imposed on the city.
This is the third consecutive weekend that people have illegally gathered for this reason.
During the protest, the demonstrators started singing ‘You’re The Voice’ in an apparent show of Aussie kinship as well as a ‘you’re never going to stop us’ mentality.
Protesters have gathered at Chadstone Shopping Centre to sing. #9news @9NewsMelb @9NewsAUS pic.twitter.com/UO86f8YcHt
– Maggie Raworth (@MaggieRaworth) September 20, 2020
The song certainly wasn’t certified by Farnhsie and he’s royally pissed.
His manager, Glenn Wheatley, has released a statement to 7News, saying: “It’s very offensive to John and I that they choose to use ‘You’re The Voice’ as the theme of this protest.”
He continued in a separate message to The Age that he and John are worried people might assume they have given the protestors permission to use the song, which was certainly not the case.
I’m personally concerned people will hear the song and think John Farnham is personally endorsing these protests, and in this case it’s not right,” Mr Wheatley said.
“It’s something that John and I do not condone, the use of that song, particularly in a time in Melbourne where we are in stage four lockdown. Really, the last thing we should be doing is protesting, no one should be hitting the streets en masse, endangering people’s lives and livelihoods.
“It was not meant to be a protest song, it was meant to be used as an inspirational song for nations and for people, not in a situation of what was an illegal protest.
Credit: PA
“I want to reiterate, we support people’s right to protest, but there’s circumstances where the protest can be done, and taking to the streets of Melbourne today is not it.”
Discontent has been brewing in Melbourne essentially since the lockdown restrictions were imposed.
The protestors ‘claimed victory’ in their rally on the weekend because they relished the idea that it cost Victoria Police thousands of dollars to stop their event.
At a separate rally in Elwood, there were 16 anti-lockdown protesters arrested and 21 were hit with fines.
Over the weekend there were 150 fines issued for people breaching public health orders, including 19 for not wearing a face covering and 42 for curfew breaches.
Victoria recorded just 14 new cases of coronavirus on the weekend, the lowest number in months, in a good sign that the second wave might soon be over. Health experts are closely watching the situation to see whether restrictions can be rolled back.
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