If you haven’t checked your Facebook feed this week, Australia’s musicians are standing arm in arm with the creative community to hold up a great big middle finger aimed at Education Minister Simon Birmingham for dismissing creative careers as “lifestyle choices”.

Birmingham’s comments came as the government axes hundreds of courses from VET student loan eligibility. It’s not an entirely dimwitted move, as it’s part of a bigger push towards penalising dodgy private colleges that bilk their students and taxpayers out of money.

But many, including prominent musicians like rappers Illy and Tuka, have taken to social media to savage the Education Minister over his condescending attitude towards working in the creative fields, which he claimed is a lifestyle choice that won’t lead to a job.

Now more musicians have come forward with criticism of Birmingham’s quotes, including Gang of Youths, Skegss, and Peking Duk. “Absolutely, it is a lifestyle choice in every way. To say that it’s not a lifestyle choice would be nuts,” Peking Duk’s Reuben Styles told SBS2’s The Feed.

However, as Styles and bandmate Adam Hyde explained, so too is being a politician and indeed any career one chooses. “It’s the same as if someone wanted to study science at the tertiary level. I don’t see how that’s not a lifestyle choice,” said Hyde.

“If your work is not your lifestyle choice then you’re not in the right field,” Styles added. “Every politician is there because they love bickering. They love it, it’s everything they want to be. And to say that they don’t love their job and they’re just doing it for the bread and butter, it’s ridiculous.”

Birmingham’s comments come as the government slashes funding to Sounds Australia, who help export Australia’s vibrant music scene overseas. Despite the cuts, Tone Deaf recently reported on a government report which recommended injecting an extra $24 million into Australian opera.

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When asked where we could cut costs to fund Australia’s creative scene, Hyde said, “Well, the government puts $13 billion towards defence. If they were to not pay for one more plane, [they could] give some of that money towards creative stuff.”

Speaking to Music Feeds, Gangs of Youths commented, “Everything is a lifestyle choice, Simon. Becoming a member of parliament is no more or less part of the cultural capitalist hegemony than deciding to utilise one’s skill in commerce to sell fruit by the side of the road.”

“Yet one is done in earnest as a transaction between consumer and merchant and the other is predicated on obscure and theoretical constructions and power structures. The guy selling fruit is the former. You are the latter.”

Skegss, meanwhile, added, “What a f***ing dog. So the minister has no paintings in his house and doesn’t listen to any music? Nice one to the education minister.” Check out Peking Duk’s appearance on The Feed below.

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