The ABC has been dragged from one end of social media to the other after the appallingly political and nauseatingly talentless drivel it offered up for New Year’s Eve. Yes, we are wasting over a billion dollars on the ABC and yet the Liberal Party never had the guts to nudge it into the fires of free market competition.

Indeed, Paul Fletcher boasted about increasing funding to the ABC despite most conservatives refusing to watch it. Reading the press release, it seemed the Liberals were more worried about shushing unflattering headlines than offering value-for-money to the taxpayer. I am not surprised, just tired. So tired of disappointment from a party that spent its time in power feeding Labor’s favourite pet.

Tragic as the ABC may be, criticism should be reserved for the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, whose political agenda has encrusted itself over the city like an infestation of barnacles. The real Sydney is under there, somewhere. It’s just a tad difficult to pick out after 20 suffocating years of activism.

Were the 9pm fireworks conceived back in the days when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was flapping around wearing a ‘Yes!’ T-shirt, firmly embedded in his delusion that Australians would grant Labor a blank cheque? The whole thing felt as if it was meant to be a celebration of the Voice to Parliament rather than the new year.

The central theme, aside from black excellence and greatness, was land ownership. Or lack thereof. Everywhere you go in Australia is Aboriginal land. That is the message. Not Australian land. Not shared public land. Land belonging to race rather than nationality. It is an ideology that denies the birthright of every Australian child to the land in which they are born. This is not inclusive, friendly, or reconciliatory. It is why Australia voted ‘No!’.

Some have speculated that the centre of the Harbour Bridge was meant to have a huge ‘Yes!’ scrawled across it. Who knows if they are right. What we do know is that the Lord Mayor was never going to allow ‘No!’ to beam proudly from the city’s most recognisable icon.

This year’s show has upset a lot of people.

The 9pm show is for children. Always has been, always will be. It is not a canvas for political activism, and yet that is what the kids had to sit through.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore made the situation much much worse when she stepped out to defend the ‘Calling Country’ fireworks. Yes. That is a real name that people we pay for gave to a fireworks show.

In her response, Moore admitted that the fireworks and their surrounding show were designed to ‘acknowledge Blak Power’.

I’ll allow you to imagine for a moment what the repercussions would be for the Mayor if she’d signed off on a ‘white power’ fireworks display. I am going to give you another moment to think about how many people involved would be cancelled from public life.

‘The 9pm Calling Country fireworks were all about celebrating our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It’s been a hard year for our Indigenous communities as they’ve struggled through the shameful result of the referendum.

‘Tonight was about acknowledging Blak power and resilience through music, art, and fireworks.’

Included in this performance promoting peace and tolerance was a rap band whose original lyrics to the performed song were, ‘You can suck my Moby D**k!’ which were changed to, ‘You gon’ sink this Moby ship!’. Lovely.

Allow me to assist the Lord Mayor.

The fireworks are about celebrating the New Year and if those in charge cannot keep their offensive, shameful, and universally rejected political messaging out of it – then they should be sacked.

Shared celebratory events are funded by everyone. They are for everyone. Put on a pop song and let off some gunpowder. We are sick of seeing our city drowned in the flags of activism while devoid of Australian flags, as if political allegiance has completely erased our national identity as Australian.

And one last thing, Lord Mayor, leave the kids out of politics.

Alexandra Marshall is an independent writer. If you would like to support her work, shout her a coffee over at donor-box.