Morrissey recently revealed he has issues (we won’t say beef, because Moz wouldn’t approve) with the city of Brisbane, which stems back to his last two appearances in the Queensland capital. But according to the man himself, there’s more to dislike about Australia.
Speaking to the Herald Sun, the former Smiths frontman explained his contempt for airport security employees, particularly those working at the Sydney airport where he touched down last year to perform four shows as the headliner of Vivid LIVE.
“When I arrived in Sydney last year the officer at Passport Control did her best to insult me and to cause a scene when there was no need. I refused to take the bait because she was so rude, and so she threw my passport at me and looked away in disgust!” he said.
“I thought, ‘Wow, welcome to Australia!’ They use the ISIS issue as an excuse to denigrate everyone, and they absolutely love it.” The ringleader of the tormentors had just finished recounting his rather unpleasant experience in a cell at LAX.
“It doesn’t take much to be thrown into a cell at LAX!” Moz told the Herald Sun. “You will notice that the Immigration Officers are persistently ordering you to ‘stand there’, which is a test to see if you will bow to their orders.”
“If you say — as I did — ‘No. I’m perfectly OK where I am’, then they throw you into a cell for three hours because you are not frightened of them. They went through my belongings and took $150 out of my wallet.”
“They kept the money and said ‘This is what saying ‘No’ has cost you’ — which of course was illegal on their part. But they can be as illegal as they wish.” As for the singer’s anti-Brisbane stance, he told the Courier Mail why he won’t be visiting the city on his upcoming tour.
“I didn’t want to return to Brisbane because I’ve played there twice and on both nights I was heckled, which doesn’t bother me that much, but even if I reply with something snazzy, the heckler always wins because the night has been soured and we no longer feel welcome. That’s life,” he said.
