The Northern Territory’s transport minister Gerry McCarthy was fined for driving at 149km/hr in a 130km/hr zone because he was listening to a “fast-paced Hoodoo Gurus song.”
The ABC reports that the minister, who has previously referred to people who speed as “idiots” was fined $200 and three demerit points.“I totally understand how this can happen. It's not just listening to our music that can cause this,” Hoodoo Gurus front man Dave Faulkner said in a statement.
“Many years ago I was driving in outback New South Wales with an american friend. I was singing in the car, teaching them 'Waltzing Matilda', and when I got to the rousing, final chorus, the one after the eerie, quiet part "And his ghost may be heard...", well, I got a bit carried away. By the end of the chorus I suddenly noticed that we were going 180kmh (100mph in old speak). Luckily it was a very deserted, flat, straight road in the middle of nowhere."
We can learn two things from this:
Ministers might occasionally do have good taste in music.
Whatever Ministers have to say, doesn’t really have any bearing on how you should think, feel or act.
For those of you normal folk who dig the Gurus, you can check them out at the following gigs:
APRIL
22 - Metropolis, Fremantle, WA
23 - Dunsborough Hotel, Dunsborough, WA
24 - Players, Mandurah, WA
25 - Hotel Rottnest, Rottnest Island, WA
29 - Hi Fi Bar, Brisbane, QLD
30 - Twin Towns, Tweed Heads, NSW
MAY
1 - Yamba Bowling Club, Yamba, NSW
7 - Governor Hindmarsh, Adelaide, SA
8 - Hi Fi Bar, Melbourne, VIC
14 - Level One Newcastle Leagues Club, Newcastle, NSW
15 - Waves, Wollongong, NSW
20 - Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, NSW
21 - Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, NSW
Unfortunately for Gerry McCarthy there is no Northern Territory date, but I guess that’s one less “idiot” at a Gurus show.
Follow the author Tim Cashmere on Twitter.
