Canberra has spent $16,000 of ratepayer money adding new colours to a roundabout to make it more “inclusive”, angering locals struggling during Australia’s cost of living crisis.
The roundabout on Lonsdale St in Braddon this week had five new stripes added – light blue, pink and white to represent the “transgender” flag, and black and brown ones to represent non-white people and AIDS sufferers.
Some LGBT advocates were upset the revamp did not include the intersex or asexual flags, but most criticism came from local residents who vented their anger to Canberra’s City Renewal Authority.
“An interesting priority for the ACT Government as many folks battle cost of living pressures,” wrote one local on social media.
“Pretty sad when this seems to be the most important thing this Labor/Greens Government cares about,” said another.
“Territory Government here in ACT is an absolute joke.”
One resident said they were concerned the bright colours could distract drivers and cause a car accident, while another else said sarcastically: “Yes let’s spend more taxpayer money on this. Nice to see it going where it’s needed, like homeless etc.”
Other social media users supported the new colours, as did a number of ACT government social media accounts such as Canberra By Bike and Visit Canberra, who commented “we are obsessed” and “wonderful work” on the CRA’s post.
The roundabout was initially painted rainbow after left-leaning Canberra voted Yes in Australia’s same-sex marriage plebiscite in 2017.
Then in 2019 the traffic circle made headlines again when authorities removed posters for Senator Fraser Anning’s party from a pole in the middle of the roundabout, and more recently has been the scene of car enthusiasts doing burnouts.
