Council uses this Wiggles song to drive away the homeless: ‘We are deeply disappointed’

For decades, The Wiggles have brought joy to children worldwide with their catchy tunes and colourful characters. One of their most well-known songs, 'Hot Potato,' gets kids dancing and singing along.

But a council in Western Australia had been using this iconic bop to keep homeless people away from a certain spot in the city.



A popular site for music festivals in Western Australia is being used by homeless people, but, in an alleged bid to drive them away, the Bunbury Municipal Council had played 'Hot Potato' by The Wiggles on an endless loop through loudspeakers.

A spokesperson for The Wiggles said that the group was ‘deeply disappointed’ when this news was brought to their attention.


Screenshot 2023-11-03 at 7.53.44 AM.png
The Bunbury Municipal Council played The Wiggles’s ‘Hot Potato’ to drive away homeless people. Credit: The Wiggles



'Wiggles music is created to bring joy and happiness to children and families around the world,' the spokesperson said.

'We are deeply disappointed today to hear that it is being used in any other way,’ they added.


However, the council denied that they turned the volume up to full capacity at the Graham Bricknell Memorial Music Shell—a public stage near the centre of Bunbury.



The music shell had been used by homeless people as a shelter for over a decade.

Bunbury Mayor Jaysen Miguel said the area had attracted anti-social behaviour. He also said that playing music was a passive way to discourage people from gathering in an area and admitted that the council had been using this strategy for the past six months.

‘Graham Bricknell Memorial Music Shell is a community space where people should feel safe to visit and meet up,’ Mayor Miguel said.

He claimed that someone removed the padlock at the storage area of the shell and turned the volume to full capacity.

‘The city has since rectified this and put the music back to an acceptable level,’ he declared.

Listen to ‘Hot Potato’ by The Wiggles in the video below:



Australia’s homelessness issue continues, and one can only hope that homeless people can be given the support they need. In a previous article, a powerful message was posted on social media that sparked the attention of people to the predicament faced by the increasing homeless population. Read more about the story here.




Key Takeaways
  • The Wiggles have criticised a council in Western Australia for playing their 'Hot Potato' song to deter homeless people.
  • The site of a recent music festival, which is now used by the homeless, was playing the song through loudspeakers at full capacity.
  • A Wiggles spokesperson expressed deep disappointment that their music, intended to bring joy and happiness, was being used this way.
  • Bunbury Mayor Jaysen Miguel defended the playing of music as a passive way to discourage anti-social behaviour.

What do you think of this story? Let us know in the comments below!
 
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I'm currently experiencing what is known as "tertiary homelessness", that is, living in a boarding house. Dependent on the others in the house, it can be heaven or absolute hell. Have gotten accustomed to it and it's better than sleeping under a bridge.

As a 64 year old, I've had my fair share of physical violence directed at me, usually by guys a half or a third of my age and bigger. Trouble is they are the ones that are on the wrong end of a hiding. I can thank my upbringing in a very rough suburb of Sydney from 1965 to 1986. My policy is not to throw the first punch but strive to throw the last one. That policy works over 90% of the time.

That is why my location in my profile is "Iceland, Victoria". Dealing with iceheads on an almost daily basis has become a hobby for
I'm so sorry that you are going through that and that you have to put up with that crap.
You are so right about where we grew up. And it wasn't just the guys who learnt to fight. I grew up with some of the toughest females .
 
The homeless situation in Australia really needs to be urgently addressed by our Government....now that the divisive Referendum is over, maybe our PM will start looking at these type of issues a lot closer as this particular issue seems to be growing all over the Country. Lets hope that he also looks at the immigration numbers a bit closer over the next few years also, that might help a bit. We can only live in hope for something positive to be done to assist the Homeless situation.....would never have thought that we would ever have this situation in Our Lucky Country.....but it's here so lets hope the PM stays on home soil for long enough to do something about it.🤔😥
The Prime Minister won’t do anything that will help with homelessness NOW ! Previous governments should have planned for this, but all they did was to bring more and more people into the country knowing we didn’t have the infrastructure to handle it. The PM is too busy roaming the world to even notice what’s happening here.
 
The Prime Minister won’t do anything that will help with homelessness NOW ! Previous governments should have planned for this, but all they did was to bring more and more people into the country knowing we didn’t have the infrastructure to handle it. The PM is too busy roaming the world to even notice what’s happening here.
There’s another 500,00 coming soon isn’t there🤔
 
There’s another 500,00 coming soon isn’t there🤔
Yes you're right, more large numbers of immigrants are expected to arrive in the next few years, which will only make a bad situation even worse. We should also be looking after our own first and sorting out their housing problems, before even considering bringing in more immigrants to our country. Unless more blocks of units are built in every state of the country, then more and more people will remain homeless. It's time that this Gov't. got off it's arse and seriously addressed this problem. It can't constantly be ignored and brushed away under the carpet. If the Gov't can waste $600Million dollars on funding a PNG Rugby franchise then they can actively support Australia's Homeless situation. 🤔😢
 
The homeless situation in Australia really needs to be urgently addressed by our Government....now that the divisive Referendum is over, maybe our PM will start looking at these type of issues a lot closer as this particular issue seems to be growing all over the Country. Lets hope that he also looks at the immigration numbers a bit closer over the next few years also, that might help a bit. We can only live in hope for something positive to be done to assist the Homeless situation.....would never have thought that we would ever have this situation in Our Lucky Country.....but it's here so lets hope the PM stays on home soil for long enough to do something about it.🤔😥
Good luck with your wish, he seems 
to be a perpetual tourist here in 
China, trying to get more trade 
deals up and running.
 
Well I for one like nursery rhymes, children don’t need to be told the dark origins, they just need to be allowed to enjoy them. I taught and sang nursery rhymes to my children and grandchildren who loved them. I also loved watching wiggles videos and dvds with my youngest grandchild, she loved it. I took my kids to a wiggles concert when they were young and we all loved it. People like to over complicate kids lives instead of letting them enjoy being kids.
It's becoming that they are finding something wrong in everything. I say just enjoy life ❤️❤️
 
Many other Councils use Barry Manilow songs to disperse youth groups from shopping centres. They can be quite intimidating to elderly shoppers when they gather in numbers
 

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