America has just finished celebrating the 4th of July; their annual Independence Day holiday that’s become synonymous with setting off fireworks and firecrackers. Similarly, the Northern Territory in Australia just celebrated ‘Cracker Night’.
What is Cracker Night you may ask? Well in the Northern Territory, for one night, and one night only, anyone over the age of 18 can legally buy and let off fireworks. It’s kind of like the film, The Purge but the only illegal law that becomes legal for a twenty-four-hour period is the one concerning fireworks.
Australia used to have a Cracker Night in every state and territory but now it’s just the Northern Territory that celebrates it on the 1st of July and Tasmania that celebrates it on the 24th of May. NSW (which hasn’t celebrated Cracker Night since June 7th, 1986), Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT have all banned Cracker Night to reduce the number of accidents, burns injuries and destruction of property.
Which is all well and good – but those of us who don’t live in the Northern Territory (NT) or Tassie feel like we’re seriously missing out on some good old-fashioned fun. Instagram account @cuinthent posted an awesome (but extreme) video and asked who else was going “hard on cracker night”.
Of course, many responded; one Instagram user wrote, “Me tonight” while another wrote, “F*ck yeah”. User @ellhgood commented what all of us who reside anywhere other than NT and Tasmania are thinking – “Shame we not there for cracker night.”
WATCH: An awesome but extreme example of Cracker Night shenanigans.
Although, to play devil’s advocate, perhaps it is good that NSW, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT banned Cracker Night and, perhaps, NT and Tasmania should follow suit… During NT’s Cracker Night this year, firefighters had to respond to more than 100 incidents, as reported by ABC News.
One 50-year-old man was involved in a firework-related incident that left him in a critical condition and he had to be transported to Royal Darwin Hospital. Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service assistant chief fire officer Joshua Fischer even said that some people celebrating Cracker Night allegedly aimed their fireworks at firefighters.
“There were instances reported of fireworks being let off in the direction of firefighting vehicles while crews were attending to incidents and from high-rise building balconies.”
Joshua Fischer
This is obviously horrible but Mr Fischer did say the majority of people acted responsibly while having fun during NT’s Cracker Night. So, as someone who is responsible but would also love to have some fun with fireworks and firecrackers, I say the other states and territories should (please) rethink their bans on Cracker Night!
Read Next