Australia’s legendary singer/songwriter, Tina Arena, denounced the lockdowns going on in the country. She also told her supporters to vote out Victorian Premier Dan Andrews during her 70-minute live Instagram video.
Arena also pointed out the lack of support provided to the entertainment industry all along with the pandemic. During the live Instagram discussion, she was joined by the members of the Australian comedy troupe Sooshi Mango.
“I refuse, as a woman, to be told what it is that I should do. I know not everybody is going to understand, but I absolutely refuse to buy into the propaganda, and I turned around and said to myself: ‘I believe in this show, and I believe we need to just get on with our lives,’” she spoke furiously.
She opened up about the fact that she had demanded that her May Enchante national tour should go ahead. Even though there were warnings from the promoter of her tour on the high probability of lockdowns. Luckily though, the tour finished right before the outbreak of the Covid-19 Delta variant, which affected many Australian cities, putting them back into long periods of lockdowns.
Arena stated to all those watching the live Instagram discussion,
“The work and the risks of what we do on a live level is very difficult for all of you to understand.”
She also noted that Sooshi Mango’s own comedy tour had been postponed for the second time. Arena said that she didn’t think that even the rescheduled dates given for January 2022 would go ahead, expressing that she feels lockdowns would be unacceptable next year, stating,
“If any of the states think they have the jurisdiction to continue to lock people up in 2022, there’s something very, very wrong in this country. It’s something that’s completely unrealistic.”
The singer also tried to convince her fans and followers to not vote for the Victorian Premier Dan Andrews at the next elections. She urged them to “take the time to think about who they want to direct this state.”
Further adding,
“When it comes time to vote for those that we choose to work for us, perhaps next time around we pay a little bit more attention as to who we wish to be at the steering wheel. Because quite honestly, it has been the greatest disappointment when a city as beautiful as ours, which was deemed the most livable in the world … when you look at it now, it’s not at all the most livable city in the world. I really hope that when it comes to the next election, people take the time to think about who it is they want to direct this state. I really hope Victorians really take the time to think about that over the next 12 months before we go to the polls because I will be going to the polls with a much different intention.”
In a heartfelt interview with Studio 10, Arena drew great praise for being so outspoken and shedding light on the issues faced by the music industry. She condemned the double standards between musical events and sporting events.
“I also hate the differentiation between sport and arts in Australia. As the artistic community, we will draw the line in the sand now and say, ‘No more of your double standards now. Sport is a great thing, but life is not just about sport, life is about art and culture … I would encourage the artistic community to come forward, and I’d encourage anybody else to start thinking straight now.”
She also showed her disappointment, saying that Australian artists should be “done” giving away their talent for charitable causes because they have not received any support during the pandemic.
She told the Studio 10 interviewer, Angela Bishop,
“If anything goes wrong, the artistic community has always lifted their sleeves up. We’ve gone in there and done what we needed to do. We’re very happy to play that role to help people – it’s what we do. Now we’re in trouble, is someone helping us? No. It’s amazing how people just fly away and disappear, however they’re very quick to ask us to work for free, to relinquish any kind of remuneration from sales of the record.”
With her emotions getting fiercer, she added,
“You know what? DONE. We’re done, and now we’re saying it. Just stop this ridiculous, preposterous behaviour. It’s got to stop.”
At the end of the interview, Arena closed on a hopeful stance, saying that her near future plans “were to work.”
“Don’t be cancelling any of those tours, ladies and gentlemen – keep your tickets! We need to work, the audiences need some respite, so the immediate future for us is that we’ll see you back at work ASAP.”
It seemed that Arena’s passionate words touched the hearts of viewers; a fan tweeted, “I’m ready for Tina Arena to be PM.”
“Never ever silence an artist.” 👏👏👏
I’m ready for @tinaarena to be PM. pic.twitter.com/hti7mhIRFB
— Eliza Day (@mselizaday) September 24, 2021
Another fan wrote,
“That’s what I love about Tina Arena, not afraid to speak her mind and tell it how it is. Who cares about sport? I’d rather the music thank you,”
