John Farnham’s manager hits out at anti-lockdown protesters for using hit song ‘You’re the Voice’
John Farnham’s manager has accused anti-lockdown protesters of “endangering other peoples’ lives and livelihoods”, revealing why the Aussie rock legend doesn’t want his music associated with political causes.
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John Farnham’s manager has labelled the use of You’re the Voice for anti-lockdown protests “theft”.
Glenn Wheatley said the rock icon was unhappy with the use of his signature hit at Chadstone during an anti-lockdown protest on Sunday.
Two people were arrested and six given fines.
The small rally came to a rapid anticlimactic end after the group, supported by guitar, sang Farnham’s famous song.
“John doesn’t want to be seen bemoaning people’s rights to protest, but this is blatant theft of his song,” Wheatley told the Herald Sun.
“It’s offensive to John, it shouldn’t be used in this way and particularly not at this time, when we’re in stage four lockdown and the protesters are endangering other peoples’ lives and livelihoods by doing this. It’s an illegal protest, they’ve been asked not to do it for the obvious reasons. It’s not in anyone’s interest.”
You’re the Voice was a No. 1 in 1986 and is seen by many as an alternative national anthem.
Wheatley slammed far right group Reclaim Australia using the song in protests in 1985.
“John was particularly outraged when those far right groups were using it, they were almost violent protests, that’s not what we want to see the song used for.
“It’s not a protest song. It’s a cheap shot from these (anti-lockdown) people, it’s very easy to go ‘Let’s use the national anthem’ but that doesn’t sit well with John, he has very strong feelings that he doesn’t want You’re The Voice to be used in these circumstances.”
Wheatley said he had been abused online for complaining about the use of the song at the protests.
“I copped some flack on social media last night about this, but I expect it when you’re seen to be denying peoples’ rights. It’s just not what we want to see happening. I’ve had to put out cease and desist letters before, I hate doing it, it makes me look like the BoogeyMan.
“We want the song to remain out of politics. At the risk of offending the people who think they have the right to use the song, we just don’t want them to do it.
“But there’s not much you can do. Which organiser do you go to? You don’t want to rev them up and make them want to use it even more.”
Police slammed demonstrators for their “selfish behaviour”, vowing to track attendees down and hold them to account.
“A small group of people had gathered outside a supermarket for a short time before police intervened,” a police spokeswoman said.
“Even though this activity occurred well outside the centre of Melbourne, police were able to quickly and effectively respond.
“We will continue to investigate those who attended today.”
Within minutes, the group dispersed on the advice of organisers to avoid being caught by police.
Five Public Order Response vans arrived on scene at 1.15pm but no demonstrators were in sight.
Protesters were handed white flowers as they arrived for the brief rally by a woman who said she wanted to pay tribute to a loved one who had taken their own life.
“I think stage four is just too much for some people and they could pull it back to stage three,” she said.
“I don’t necessarily agree with what went on today but I’m just someone who has lost someone very dear to them and I have a lot of people in my circle that are struggling mentally.”
Speaking after the short-lived rally, one protester slammed the state government for “protecting paedophiles and taking our rights away”.
“Innocent people want to protest for freedom against our government — Black Lives Matter is OK but it’s not OK when you want to speak up against the government,” the woman said.
“It’s disgusting. Our freedom of speech and human rights have been violated so we’re going to stand up for Victoria.”
Another angry anti-lockdown supporter, who rode to Chadstone on his bike for the demonstration, said he wanted to “expose the lies that are going on and the transhuman agenda that’s coming next”.
Organisers described the rally, which lasted less than five minutes, as a “victory”.
“Police were caught completely off-guard today when a few hundred demonstrators descended on Chadstone for a flash protest,” an organiser said.
“We were able to get in and out in about 50 minutes with so far no known arrests or fines.
“However Victoria Police spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars on PORT for today. We consider it their fine for opposing our freedom.
“We’re going to relish in this victory.“
Protesters were then urged to move on to Footscray Market, 26km from Chadstone, for another rally.
However, it never materialised and led to infighting within the protest group about a lack of direction.
A heavy police presence was established at the entrances and exits of Chadstone after the flash protest.
Police were seen pulling over motorists and patrolling the bus depot and it is possible that protesters who were unable to get to Chadstone in the short time frame were intercepted.
CCTV from inside the centre will likely be handed over to police to track those who attended the illegal rally.
SECOND PROTEST IN AS MANY DAYS
It comes after more than 100 protesters swarmed a suburban park and busy beach during a rally on Saturday.
An early morning rally was due to start at 7am but failed to take off.
Hundreds of police flooded across the CBD ahead of the Chadstone rally, with officers patrolling Queen Victoria Market, the scene of last weekend’s dramatic rally, since early Sunday morning.
Public Order Response Team officers have been monitoring famous landmarks across the city, including Parliament House, the Shrine of Remembrance, Carlton Gardens, Royal Park and Crown casino.
Police have also upped their patrols around Albert Park and South Melbourne Market.
This is the third consecutive weekend of anti-lockdown demonstrations.
Organisers said the level of co-ordination and planning “has never been seen at a protest in Australia before” as they outlined plans for a string of small rallies from 7am on Sunday, with the main gathering at 1pm.
Communicating through secret encrypted message threads, organisers encouraged protesters to stay within 10 minutes of the CBD while they waited for the location of the rally to be revealed so they could “flood” the area as quickly as possible.
Almost 700 people have signed up to one encrypted group where a protest organiser promised Sunday’s rally would be “the big one”.
Organisers said they had enlisted “scouts” to keep watch around the city to monitor where police are on patrol.
They also claimed that the anti-lockdown group was being fed information by police officers.
“We are exceptionally thankful to the small number of Victoria Police officers who came forward and are willing to provide information,” an organiser said.
The latest protest plans come after conspiracy theorists, coronavirus deniers and anti-lockdown advocates gathered at Elsternwick Park in the city’s southeast at noon on Saturday, shortly after a rally organised for the front of the State Library in the CBD failed to take off.
Sixteen protesters were arrested and 21 were fined after crowds swarmed Elsternwick Park and Elwood Beach in the city’s southeast.
A heavy police presence, including officers from the public order response team, the mounted unit, highway patrol and air wing, stormed the busy park within minutes of the protesters arriving.
Protesters marched towards Ormond Esplanade and Elwood Beach but were met by a ring of steel put in place by police. Several arrests were made, while most protesters dispersed through crowds of beachgoers and fled through side streets.
In dramatic scenes on Elwood beach, police arrested a man who repeatedly screamed at them and said they would have to “answer to the lord, Jesus Christ”.
A man arrested at Ormond Esplanade claimed police officers tackled him to the ground after they ran towards him with “huge guns”.
Despite crowds fleeing soon after police arrived, organisers described the protest as a “massive win”.
“Few arrests, massive cost, demoralising for the police,” they claimed.
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