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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-03-06 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Eurovision Song Contest 2024

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:12): Today, we say congratulations to Zaachariaha Fielding and congratulations to Michael Ross, Electric Fields, who have been announced today as Australia's representatives at Eurovision for this year, 2024. In the words of Molly Meldrum, I say to everybody: do yourself a favour and get it in the diary for 11 May, because Malmo in Sweden will be hosting Eurovision this year.

Can we just pause for a moment and recognise the extraordinary significance of this moment. Zaachariaha Fielding is a celebrated South Australian artist from Mimili in the APY lands, and at the same time a celebrated musician alongside his collaborator, Michael Ross, Electric Fields, an artist and musician of extraordinary achievement. As a leading participant in the APY Art Centre Collective, Zaachariaha Fielding is the winner of the 2023 Wynne Prize, among many other significant decorations. He, along with so many others, have been core to the spirit, the vibrancy, capacity and success of APY Art Centre Collective. And what a tremendous round of collective achievements.

Zaachariaha is the son of Robert Fielding, who is another hero of the arts community of Mimili in the APY, and Kaye Lowah. To see that the band Electric Fields will grace the stage at Eurovision in front of more than 160 million viewers throughout the world, if last year is any guide, is just an extraordinary achievement. It is the first time since the first Australian participant, Guy Sebastian—whom we like to claim as our own—performed at Eurovision in 2015. But here we have a South Australian, and not only that but a South Australian Mimili local who will now take the stage at Eurovision 2024.

Electric Fields will follow in what is not quite 10 years of participation by Australians since Guy Sebastian first graced the stage in 2015. Dami Im nearly won it the following year—and we have since been invited back every year—and who can forget Kate Miller-Heidke's extraordinary, literally towering performance in 2019? Apart from following that moment by moment, I was just extraordinarily impressed to see that Kate Miller-Heidke kept her commitment at Ukaria, a matter of days after having performed on that grand stage, and performed Zero Gravity at Ukaria—one of those unforgettable moments.

I am proud, also, to stand here as a member of this place in circumstances where Sweden, as last year's winner—Loreen winning with Tattoo; the only person to have pulled off that feat, and a truly extraordinary song it was too—will host in 2024 on the 50th anniversary of the winning performance in 1974 of ABBA's Waterloo, and what a breakthrough moment that was. Waterloo was a song written for the Eurovision Song Contest, and I might say we might keep an eye out as to my presence in the chamber around 11 May. I know that the balance of my family will be doing all they can to be there in person.

Eurovision really is a truly extraordinary event. It continues to grow. It started first in 1956 as a project, really, towards peace and unification postwar and it has only grown and continued to develop, and captured the hearts and minds of people now far beyond Europe—indeed, all the way to Australia. It is a wonderful thing that Australians are invited to participate in the contest. I know that Zaachariaha and Michael will do us proud. Electric Fields will be fantastic. One Milkali is the song (One Blood). It is about unification. Let's play that over and over again from now until May.

The SPEAKER: We will play it and think of you, member for Heysen.

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