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Beloved Australian children’s music group The Wiggles has voiced their deep disappointment amid revelations their music is being used by the City of Bunbury in Western Australia to deter homeless people from a waterfront bandstand.
The South West council came under fire on Thursday after conceding it was blaring Hot Potato on a loop 24 hours a day at its Graham Bricknell Memorial Music Shell to discourage people from congregating there.
The South West council came under fire on Thursday after conceding it was blaring the children’s band’s ‘Hot Potato’ song at its Graham Bricknell Memorial Music Shell to discourage people from congregating there.Credit: Nine.
A Wiggles spokesperson told WAtoday the group’s music was created to bring joy and happiness to children and families around the world, and they were “deeply disappointed” to hear it was being used in any other way.
This masthead understands The Wiggles have since approached the city’s council requesting it stop using the song.
Earlier in the afternoon, the city doubled down amid backlash over the musical deterrance, insisting the method was standard practice and a response to rising anti-social behaviour.
The partially covered public stage in the city’s heart and opposite its bus depot has regularly doubled as a shelter for those experiencing homelessness over the better part of the past decade.
But as Bunbury mayor Jaysen Miguel pointed out, it had also become a hotspot for anti-social behaviour.
And Miguel said the city had been receiving increasing reports of such behaviour and costly damage due to the growing number of people setting up camp in the area.
He told WAtoday the use of music as a passive way of discouraging people from congregating in an area was a common method utilised across the state and the city had been employing it for more than six months.
“Graham Bricknell Memorial Music Shell is a community space where people should feel safe to visit and meet up,” he said.
“While the city is continuing to work with police and relevant agencies regarding the broader issue of homelessness, we also have a responsibility to provide a safe, healthy and connected community for all of our residents.
“Music has been played at the shell for more than six months without incident, however it came to our attention that someone had removed a padlock into the storage area of the shell and turned the volume of the music right up.
“The city has since rectified this and put the music back to an acceptable level.”
The council was berated for using Peter Allen’s I Go to Rio at the music shell for the same purpose back in 2016, prompting Member for Bunbury-turned-minister Don Punch to publicly condemn the practice.
In a statement on Thursday, Punch said he was very disappointed the music was getting played for that purpose 24 hours a day, insisting it was not a solution to homelessness.
The Wiggles were not happy to hear their tune is being used to deter homeless people.
Shelter WA chief executive Kath Snell described the behaviour as “hideously cruel” and said the advocacy body would be reaching out to the city to meet with them and discuss compassionate and effective responses to homelessness.
“There are so many more appropriate responses that could have been chosen to support people in our community doing it the toughest,” he said.
“There are so many examples of amazing local governments across WA working with their Rangers and other frontline staff on strategies to support people experiencing homelessness in their local community.”
Shelter WA head of policy and sector development Paula O’Leary said the response was far from compassionate, highlighting that music had historically been used as a form of torture to disorient and break people.
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