How one town’s terrible Christmas tree captured the mood of a weary nation

It’s not every day that your hometown’s Christmas tree goes viral and makes international headlines. You might think that it would be a point of pride. “We did it, baby! We’re on the map!” you might be expected to exclaim. Alas, not in this instance.

Sadly, the Port Macquarie Christmas tree didn’t make a UK tabloid’s list of “the world’s most eye-catching Christmas trees” because of some record-breaking feat of beauty and holiday cheer, but because the tree’s decorations were universally condemned as being terrible.

So terrible, in fact, that the mayor has responded to the backlash and controversially pulled them down.

The Port Macquarie Christmas tree (right), which quickly became ridiculed on social media.Credit: Facebook

The story of the Port Macquarie Christmas tree has played out like a sort of reverse A Christmas Carol, where something innocent, pure, and yes, quite hideous, has been transformed into something miserable and soulless. And like the Dickens’ classic, there’s a warning in it for all of us.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, let me explain.

The local council’s original decision to decorate one of the town’s iconic Norfolk pines – the one located next to the riverside Town Green – was bold but appropriate.

Christmas in Australia can often feel incongruous when you’re raised on songs, books and movies that emphasise the white and snowy nature of the holiday. Growing up, Christmas in Port Macquarie involved performing at the town’s Christmas pageant at the local RSL, stocking up on prawns at the fish market, and going for a surf. Not really the stuff of carols.

So turning a tree species native to the subtropical Pacific into a Christmas totem felt like a smart way to blend tradition with the local environment. Fairy lights and baubles were dutifully affixed to the 43-metre pine.

Unfortunately, between the decorations going up and the lights officially being flicked on, the town was hit by a hail storm that damaged numerous vehicles and, as it turned out, the tree. Even more unfortunate was the fact that the damage to the decorations wasn’t apparent until the lights were flicked on at a ceremony last weekend.

Residents gathered around the Town Green, the lights were switched on, and a quick cheer went up followed by an awkward pause as everyone waited to see if what looked like haphazardly flung on lighting and a handful of baubles was all there was. Then the laughter broke out.

The tree was pilloried as “embarrassing” and “shameful”, with the mayor forced to issue to a statement blaming the unedifying visual on the weather.

“We were sad to see our inflatable baubles had deflated – much like our spirits when the tree was lit,” they said.

But then something fascinating happened. People started to proclaim their love for the tree. They even started to identify with it.

“I feel like how the Port Macquarie Christmas tree looks,” one commenter said.

The poor, deflated Port Macquarie Christmas tree had accidentally captured the mood of a weary populace, desperate to try and spark some cheer but struggling to make it to the finish line.

I mean, who hasn’t phoned it in at the end of the year – doing the bare minimum to dress up when all you want to do is crawl into bed for four to six weeks? The tree was trying its best!

But just as the mood began to swing in behind the poor, ugly tree, the council pounced. Decorations were taken down and a new, smaller and artificial tree was put up in its place.

It was a surprisingly emotional end to the saga. Sure, the first attempt wasn’t all that pretty. But there was something genuine about it. In a world where we’re conditioned to strive for perfection, where those of us who don’t fit into the socially accepted definition of what’s desirable are made to feel inadequate, there was something deeply earnest about this wonderful, terrible tree.

It feels like there’s so little space in our cultural imagination for things that aren’t hyper-polished. But Christmas isn’t supposed to be about that. It’s about the local orchestra at the RSL, prawns from the fish markets, and hitting the beach. It’s about reclaiming time and space for our friends and family and wacky trees.

For a brief moment, the Port Macquarie Christmas tree helped remind us of the joy of simplicity and imperfection, and that’s why we fell in love with it.

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