Byron Bay named ‘Sh*t Town of Year’ 2021

Byron Bay has been named worst town in Australia after being slammed as a place full of anti-vaxxers, dropouts and pretentious rich kids.

It’s known for its lighthouse, its beaches and having some of the most expensive property in Australia.

But now Byron Bay has another, unwanted moniker after being voted “Sh*t Town of the Year” for 2021.

With 30 per cent of the votes cast, Byron was a clear winner over second-placed Caboolture and third-placed Port Pirie in the poll, run by comedians and ‘Sh*t Towns of Australia’ authors Rick Furphy and Geoff Rissole.

People walking past an art gallery in Byron Bay.

In their book, the town is described as “a Disneyland for dropouts, the Gold Coast for people who prefer their Meter Maids to have hairy pits.”

“It’s the sort of place that corporate shills on their second divorce fantasise about moving to so they can open a yoga retreat,” they write.

“Overrun by tourists and littered with their half-eaten takeaways and used condoms, the only people who actually live in Byron Bay are pretentious trustafarians who turned up for Splendour in the Grass and forgot to go home after the mushies wore off.”

Mr Rissole told the Bulletin thousands of people from the pair’s half a million social media followers had participated in the vote. He said people “loved giving Byron a rinse”.

“It’s got all the different elements of a sh*t town”, he said.

“Anti-vaxxers, hippies, trustafarians (a rich young person who affects a hippie lifestyle), it’s got it all.”

The sadly missed ‘Disco Dong’ sculpture on the Bayshore Drive Roundabout at Byron Bay.

Mr Rissole said he was disappointed the town had torn down its controversial phallic-shaped “disco dong” statue, saying it “summed the place up perfectly”.

He said the pair had visited Byron and the Gold Coast for their new book, ‘Sh*t Towns of Australia: The Great Aussie Road Trip’, between lockdowns.

They describe the Gold Coast as “hotels masquerading as a city, where Australia keeps its unemployed Kiwi scaffolders while they wait for their shot at a third rate reality show, and has-been strippers with multiple children to multiple men from multiple outlaw motorcycle gangs.”

Mr Rissole said he was a fan of the all-you-can-eat pancake buffets on the Gold Coast, but his view of the city had been coloured by an experience just over two years ago.

“I got harangued into an aggressive timeshare sale on the Gold Coast,” he said.

“They offered me a bottle of whiskey to go along. They said it was really expensive, but given the quality of the presentation I don’t think it was.”

The pair are have also run polls for sh*t city, which was won by Townsville, and sh*t suburb, won by Mount Druitt in Sydney.