Fire Fight Australia Fundraising Efforts Surpass $10m

Bushfire benefit stadium concert Fire Fight Australia has raised a huge amount of money, today revealing its final fundraising figure.

The event at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium in February, which featured Alice Cooper, Queen + Adam Lambert, kd lang, Amy Shark and more, raised a total of $10.7m to help Australian rural and regional communities with short, medium and long-term recovery following the devastating bushfires that swept across the country earlier this year.

The concert and its accompanying merch sales raised $7.2 million, which will be put towards rescue, relief and recovery, rehabilitation and rebuilding through the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery, RSPCA Bushfire Appeal and BizRebuild program.

READ MORE: The Story Of How Fire Fight Australia Came Together - 'We Were Stunned'

An additional $3.4 million was raised through firefightaustralia.com, or as corporate donations, during the broadcast, which will go to to the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal’s Fire Fight Fund, while $5,900 in donations collected at ANZ Stadium will go to the RSPCA Bushfire Appeal, alongside $20,100 raised from the auction of Fender guitars and merchandise signed by Fire Fight artists.

“On behalf of my colleagues Paul Dainty and Tim McGregor, we are all thrilled that the final total raised by Fire Fight Australia hit $10.7 million thanks to an additional $1.2 million coming in since we hit $9.5 million on the day of the concert,” TEG CEO Geoff Jones said.

“Special thanks are due to our broadcast partners Seven and Foxtel, who helped us achieve this great result.

“From all of us at TEG, I also send our deepest thanks to everyone who supported Fire Fight Australia by buying tickets, merchandise, food and drink and by making donations. The money you have raised is helping rural and regional Australian communities that are still on the long road to recovery from the devastating bushfire season of 2019/20. 

“As we face another huge challenge for our country with the coronavirus, it is a great reminder of the Australian spirit that always shines through when we face tough times together.

“Once again, our huge thanks go to the 23 Acts and the 1,500 suppliers and volunteers who helped ensure that we were all able to achieve this result by providing their services.”

Back in March, the Fire Fight Australia live CD shot to #1 on the ARIA Albums chart.

Amy Shark