'Out of touch': Bec Judd criticised for pool post
Bec Judd is copping criticism over an ‘out of touch’ post about the drought-related dust storm that saw large swaths of Eastern Australia covered in red dust.
The TV presenter shared Instagram stories of her home’s pool in Melbourne’s beachside suburbs, complaining about the dusty residue coating the water and surrounds.
The photos showed the pool, part of Bec and husband Chris Judd’s $7.8 million home, with its waters slightly muddied by the storm alongside a caption that has drawn some criticism.
“Sorry to all the pool guys in Melbourne inundated with calls this morning,” she joked in text placed on the video.
Regional media hits back at post
Dubbo-based ABC journalist Jen Browning drew attention to the post, arguing Bec missed the mark given the suffering of Aussie’s outside of the major cities.
“I’m sorry your pool got dirty - at least you have a pool with water in it, try not having enough water to do anything but keep you & your animals alive,” the journalist wrote, adding that rural town cop ten times the dust Melbourne experienced over the weekend on a regular basis, sharing an image of her toilet to demonstrates.
Here’s my toilet @becjuddloves - I could only dream of having a house like yours! Have a think next time before you tell everyone how you’re slowly “fighting back” from the tiny dust storm you had. Oh & most of NSW can’t water their lawns let alone their pool tiles... #savewater pic.twitter.com/Wu1faSBTBv
— Jen Browning (@jen_browning) January 23, 2020
Other rural media agreed, sharing their frustrations with the post alongside their own experiences of the dust storm.
“I saw it too and got so annoyed,” said fellow ABC journalist Lucy Thackray, adding a picture of the local swimming pool in central NSW town Tottenham.
“Have a think next time before you tell everyone how you’re slowly “fighting back” from the tiny dust storm you had,” Jen Browning concluded.
“Oh and most of NSW can’t water their lawns let alone their pool tiles...”
Rural push back
Bec’s follow up posts on the cleaning process further ignited the issue, one picture of the restored pool was captioned ‘fighting back’, a turn of phrase that touched a nerve with communities devastated by the impacts of the drought.
Update - Bec’s pool is clean! Maybe her pool boy could come backwash my house 🤣 #drought #fudust pic.twitter.com/rMFmeJXJ8g
— Jen Browning (@jen_browning) January 24, 2020
“Incredible to see what one perceived as fighting back. Maybe she could swap houses with you for a month? And then talk about “fighting back”... the tears, frustration, heartbreak. She’s got no idea...” one woman from country town Geurie wrote.
“At last a call out against pompous first world problems that are nothing when you live in the bush,” another agreed.
Bec Judd has not responded to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment.
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