Maybe I'm being a bit naive (again) but I'm wondering why Anna Bligh and Julia Gillard came up with a paltry $1million each for the relief fund for the flood victims but $5mill is spent on fireworks for new year celebrations in Sydney. It puzzled me no end and as I read the morning paper, I am not alone.

Sydney fireworks are seen by the world.
Floods are in house.

I agree. Those fireworks have always disgusted me. Millions of dollars that could be injected into hospitals or flood victims etc. Makes me sick to the stomach.

To be fair the fireworks would have been organised and paid for a year ago. Doesn't make it right though as you'd have thought they would have thought the flood donation amount through better. A couple of million aint gonna buy or rebuild many houses

The amount spent on the fireworks is bloody vulgar

News website right now is having a were we 'the best' fireworks moment as the main story

Like who cares really?

Its like sport, the amount spent on a few thousand elite athletes in OZ is obscene, best at sport but worst on education, wow what winners

I don't believe that will be the only money given. At the moment with everything still under water there's not a hell of a lot that anyone can do - throwing money at a flood won't make the water disappear.

Oh well looks like the mad panic buying will commence tomorro again, by the idiots that think the 30 loaves of bread they have just bought will still be fresh in 5 days, bloody fools leave stuff in the shops for everyone....Yeppen Bridge now closed so nothing moving North of there and Rocky Airport closed

Rockhampton airport likely to be closed for 10 days (approx) if the flooding is at the predicted level. If worse than predicted I'm not even going to hazard a guess..........

The fireworks generate a lot of income from boosting tourism- many of those interviewed seemed to be escaping the big freeze and said they had come to see the fireworks especially. It keeps Sydney and Australia in the limelight in a positive way, rather than negatively.
The London ones looked good too, though you will probably get people complaining that with the economic crisis they shouldn't have put anything on. Then you would have yet more negative headlines about pauper Britain.

You can't win.