War? Hunger? No, let's have a whinge about Mrs Hurley's singing

No. Apparently the thing we should all have our knickers in a knot about is whether the Governor-General's wife should be allowed to sing at public events.

For the uninitiated, former teacher Linda Hurley, wife of Governor-General David Hurley, likes to sing at the events to which she and her husband are invited to attend.

She usually writes her own song to fit with the occasion and at some point during the official proceedings, she'll take to the microphone and sing. The whole thing lasts no more than a minute or two.

Her profile on the Governor-General's website emphasises that she is "passionate about singing, and showing how singing, especially in a group, can have a positive impact on individuals and the community".

I first saw Mrs Hurley sing at a charity cricket match at Government House in 2021 and thought it was nice, a bit out of the box.

And I've seen her bust out her favourite, You Are My Sunshine, with a children's choir on National Wattle Day.

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And then singing her own creation again at the opening last year of an autism centre in Canberra, where she showed her talent for getting multi-syllabic words and high concepts into a cheery tune.

"Children with autism receive therapy and care to shine.

Early intervention life changing kids they thrive," she trilled.

Now, I get it that individuals who attend multiple events of this kind may start to feel a little jaded about Mrs Hurley singing. I've seen politicians at these events literally grit their teeth as she takes to the microphone one more time. And you can see they hate being told to sing a bar or two of You Are My Sunshine, no matter how many endorphins it stirs up or how, after a few moments, a smile starts to twitch on their previously stony face. Is it so wrong?

In 20 or 30 or 40 years' time, will people who attended the opening of this building or the dedication of that plaque remember a politician's mechanical delivery of another speech, or that little gift of whimsy Mrs Hurley gave the occasion?

For some, there is no room for it at all. They want the whole damn thing stamped out.

Those living in Twitter-land were aghast, AGHAST, that Mrs Hurley had sung recently at an occasion for National Palliative Care Week in which she delivered a song of less than a minute containing such incendiary lines as We thank Palliative Care and the work and care they share... I mean, how dare she thank them?

Inveterate Tweeter and self-described "political commentator" (ie loves the left, hates the right) Ronni Salt was so riled up, she made an official complaint to Government House. Oh, yes she did! And urged her more than 90,000 followers to do the same.

To Salt, Mrs Hurley's singing was "self-indulgent", "entitled", "embarrassing" and "self-absorbed".

"We as Australians do not pay for a Governor-General and his wife to indulge her private singing fantasies, If Mrs Hurley wishes to inflict her singing on her own family and friends, that is her choice ," she thundered.

I think the attacks on Mrs Hurley's singing are nasty.

And for what? To crush the spirit of a woman trying to share some light and happiness?

She does get a privileged platform by being the wife of the G-G. But the Hurleys, as a couple, give a lot of themselves to the role, and more often than not, behind closed doors, helping others without fanfare, including palliative care patients.

It's kind of mean and petty and peak #auspol to get upset about a minute or two of joyful singing.

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