150,000 People Have Signed A Petition Opposing Racing Ads On The Sydney Opera House
They're not happy with Alan Jones, but then again who is?
Close to 150,000 people have now signed a petition calling for Racing NSW advertisements planned for the Sydney Opera House to be scrapped, in a massive pushback against the racing industry and conservative broadcaster Alan Jones.
On Friday, the NSW Government instructed the Sydney Opera House to allow Racing NSW to project an advertisement for the upcoming Everest horse race onto the Opera House sails, overruling Opera House chief executive Louise Herron who said that doing so would threaten the building’s World Heritage status.
The NSW Government decision to allow the ads came shortly after Alan Jones shouted at Herron during what could be very charitably called an interview (more like Jones’ ridiculous monologue), calling for her to lose her job for standing up for the Opera House’s integrity.
“Louise, who do you think you are?” he yelled. “If I were Gladys Berejiklian, I’d pick up the phone and sack you today.” Good thing he’s not Gladys Berejiklian then and is actually just a sad old guy on the radio somewhere.
Three Billboards Outside Sydney, Australia pic.twitter.com/FaxFm5AmrT
— Michael Koziol (@michaelkoziol) October 7, 2018
In fact, the real question is probably who does Alan Jones think he is? As Mike Woodcock, who started the Change.org petition, put it, “Alan Jones and his Gambling mates at Racing NSW want to turn the Opera House into their own promotional billboard. They’ve even called for the sacking of the Opera House manager who told them where to get off.”
“Let’s remind Alan that the Opera House truly does belong to everyone, by supporting Louise Herron’s staunch defence of one of our City and Country’s few instantly recognisable heritage landmarks.”
Close to 150,000 people have now thrown their support behind that statement, with many offering messages of support for Herron alongside their signatures.
“It’s a landmark of global significance and recognition, not a billboard,” one supporter commented. “The fact this has even been considered is abysmal.”
You can check out the petition on Change.org here.