People in Australia are angry over plans to use the Sydney Opera House as a "billboard". They signed a petition to stop an advertisement for the world's richest horse race being projected onto the white sails of the Opera House. Australia's Prime Minister supports the Opera House being used for the advert. He said no one was painting an ad. and that it was, "lights flashing up there for a brief moment of time" He said he didn't understand people's anger.
A former Opera House chief said advertising on the world-famous site was "offensive". He found it "extraordinary" that politicians decided that the ad was in the interests of Sydney or Australia. He said the ad would ruin the artistic look of the iconic building. The son of the architect who helped complete the Opera House said: "My father would have been sickened by it....He would not have condoned advertising on the building."