Liberal Democrat MP, David Limbrick had formally asked the Minister for Roads rename the state’s ‘Mordialloc Freeway’ to the ‘Mordialloc TISM Freeway’ – after the cult seven-piece alternative rock band (whose name stands for This is Serious Mum) (pictured) in November last year.
According to Rolling Stone, the MP had requested the change to mark the band’s contribution to the Australian music scene – including its song ‘The Mordialloc Rd. Duplicator’.
“Liverpool had The Beatles, the Rocky Mountains had John Denver, and my electorate – south east metro – has TISM,” he said in his speech.
Sadly, for music lovers, the request has been knocked back – but Jaala Pulford, the Minister for Roads Minister for Road Safety and the TAC, showed she had a sense of humour in her rejection letter.
“TISM were certainly one of a kind and I have some wonderful memories seeing them perform at University,” she wrote.
“However, naming one of our Big Build projects after TISM would be problematic given the mixed messages on road safety in their songs like ‘Greg, The Stop Sign’ and ‘Anarchy Means Crossing When It Says Don’t Walk’.”
The Minister also suggested that other musical icons could be more deserving of the honour.
“It would be nice to include some [Cold] Chisel but ‘Cheap Wine’ should never be associated with driving,” the letter continued. “Putting the Bee Gees, ‘Stayin Alive’ on every licence plate in the state would be a much better option.”
Personally, we’d put in a vote for Acca Dacca Road – can you really go past ‘Highway to Hell’?
