Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in the early 1980s. As a Sydney local originally—although I’m a full-blown Queenslander now—and as a boy who grew up in the 80s, my older (and cooler) cousins would often listen to them. Naturally, I thought the Gurus were the height of cool.
I don’t ever remember the band being overly political back then. But fast-forward a few decades to 2020, and Australia’s largest independent music website, theMusic, reported: “Hoodoo Gurus Take On Trump: ‘He’s Offended Us For Years & Now We’re Giving Some Back.’”
They were talking about their song at the time, “Hung Out To Dry,” which was essentially a three-minute attack on President Trump. In a segment on Channel 10’s now-defunct The Project, lead singer Dave Faulkner said: “It’s the exact opposite of a love song. In fact, it’s an ‘I hate you’ song.” In a reply to a YouTube comment, the band was even more blunt: “We were just sick of thinking about that orange bastard.”
Okay, so they hate Trump—hardly a unique position. But as we’ve seen lately, their political sights aren’t just set on Washington.
In 2023, guess what they supported? The Indigenous Voice to Parliament. The headlines read: “Anthony Albanese’s rock star treatment alongside Hoodoo Gurus at Yes event.”
Despite these rockers telling Australians to vote “Yes” in the Voice referendum, for some reason, Australians didn’t listen and voted “No.” How could this be? How could we ignore the advice of these ‘rebellious’ anti-establishment rock icons? They were simply telling us how to vote and demanding that we fall in line with the government.
But the biggest Hoodoo Guru political news happened just recently. At an Australia Day event in Brisbane a few days ago, as the leader of One Nation, Senator Pauline Hanson, walked on stage, the Hoodoo Gurus’ 1987 hit ‘What’s My Scene?’ was played.
And how do you think the band reacted after learning the news? The ABC—always looking to attack the conservative side of politics whenever they get the chance—ran the headline: “Hoodoo Gurus’ Dave Faulkner lashes One Nation use of hit song.”
On their Instagram, instead of wishing everybody a happy Australia Day, they wrote: “We were disgusted to hear that one of our songs was played by a bunch of wannabe fascists yesterday (One Nation). Like most Australians, we have always been appalled by Pauline Hanson and the toxic nonsense she spouts. This is our message to her and her followers: don’t play our music, don’t listen to our band, do not pass go! We want nothing to do with you. In fact, we wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire.”
I don’t know, that sounds a bit like hate speech to me. Admitting they’d rather let One Nation supporters—that is, their fellow Australians—burn, than offer them a drop of basic human decency.
It’s worth noting that according to The Conversation from today: “One Nation surges into second place in two polls.” The recent YouGov results show One Nation overtaking the Coalition. So when the Hoodoo Gurus openly attack One Nation supporters, they’re attacking a massive chunk of regular Australians.
The band claim to be all about inclusivity and unity, yet they openly label these people “wannabe fascists” and claim they’d rather watch them burn than even “piss” on them. And who are they to tell people what they can and can’t listen to? Since when is it a requirement that you must be in total political lockstep with a band just to enjoy their music?
It seems like they are a band full of hate—a band that can’t possibly bring Australians together. If I were them, I would have just kept my mouth shut. Or, if they insisted on speaking up, they could have said: “Although we don’t agree with One Nation’s policies, we believe Australians are free to play our music and are entitled to their own opinions. I’d rather live in a free country with people I disagree with than censor opposing views.”
But no. They chose the “all One Nation supporters are fascists” rhetoric instead.
I’ve got one piece of advice for the Hoodoo Gurus: Stick to music.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
The Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in the early 1980s. As a Sydney local originally—although I’m a full-blown Queenslander now—and as a boy who grew up in the 80s, my older (and cooler) cousins would often listen to them. Naturally, I thought the Gurus were the height of cool.
I don’t ever remember the band being overly political back then. But fast-forward a few decades to 2020, and Australia’s largest independent music website, theMusic, reported: “Hoodoo Gurus Take On Trump: ‘He’s Offended Us For Years & Now We’re Giving Some Back.’”
They were talking about their song at the time, “Hung Out To Dry,” which was essentially a three-minute attack on President Trump. In a segment on Channel 10’s now-defunct The Project, lead singer Dave Faulkner said: “It’s the exact opposite of a love song. In fact, it’s an ‘I hate you’ song.” In a reply to a YouTube comment, the band was even more blunt: “We were just sick of thinking about that orange bastard.”
Okay, so they hate Trump—hardly a unique position. But as we’ve seen lately, their political sights aren’t just set on Washington.
In 2023, guess what they supported? The Indigenous Voice to Parliament. The headlines read: “Anthony Albanese’s rock star treatment alongside Hoodoo Gurus at Yes event.”
Despite these rockers telling Australians to vote “Yes” in the Voice referendum, for some reason, Australians didn’t listen and voted “No.” How could this be? How could we ignore the advice of these ‘rebellious’ anti-establishment rock icons? They were simply telling us how to vote and demanding that we fall in line with the government.
But the biggest Hoodoo Guru political news happened just recently. At an Australia Day event in Brisbane a few days ago, as the leader of One Nation, Senator Pauline Hanson, walked on stage, the Hoodoo Gurus’ 1987 hit ‘What’s My Scene?’ was played.
And how do you think the band reacted after learning the news? The ABC—always looking to attack the conservative side of politics whenever they get the chance—ran the headline: “Hoodoo Gurus’ Dave Faulkner lashes One Nation use of hit song.”
On their Instagram, instead of wishing everybody a happy Australia Day, they wrote: “We were disgusted to hear that one of our songs was played by a bunch of wannabe fascists yesterday (One Nation). Like most Australians, we have always been appalled by Pauline Hanson and the toxic nonsense she spouts. This is our message to her and her followers: don’t play our music, don’t listen to our band, do not pass go! We want nothing to do with you. In fact, we wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire.”
I don’t know, that sounds a bit like hate speech to me. Admitting they’d rather let One Nation supporters—that is, their fellow Australians—burn, than offer them a drop of basic human decency.
It’s worth noting that according to The Conversation from today: “One Nation surges into second place in two polls.” The recent YouGov results show One Nation overtaking the Coalition. So when the Hoodoo Gurus openly attack One Nation supporters, they’re attacking a massive chunk of regular Australians.
The band claim to be all about inclusivity and unity, yet they openly label these people “wannabe fascists” and claim they’d rather watch them burn than even “piss” on them. And who are they to tell people what they can and can’t listen to? Since when is it a requirement that you must be in total political lockstep with a band just to enjoy their music?
It seems like they are a band full of hate—a band that can’t possibly bring Australians together. If I were them, I would have just kept my mouth shut. Or, if they insisted on speaking up, they could have said: “Although we don’t agree with One Nation’s policies, we believe Australians are free to play our music and are entitled to their own opinions. I’d rather live in a free country with people I disagree with than censor opposing views.”
But no. They chose the “all One Nation supporters are fascists” rhetoric instead.
I’ve got one piece of advice for the Hoodoo Gurus: Stick to music.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
