Aussies are said to have invented the word "selfie," so it's only right they should bear the responsibility of imposing high selfie standards on the rest of the world.
The first thing on the chopping block: The selfie stick.
In a win for common decency, the Sydney Opera House is now actively discouraging selfie sticks inside the building's theatres, Fairfax Media reported.
If some fool shamelessly pulls out a selfie stick for a blurry shot of his mug during Aida, the ushers can intervene. Let's hope it's a WWE-style smackdown.
A photo posted by sydneyoperahouse (@sydneyoperahouse) on Jan 5, 2015 at 3:54pm PST
The Sydney Opera House is not anti-selfie, of course, it just knows right from wrong. And selfie sticks are so, so wrong.
"I love that people want to share their opera experience with their friends by taking selfies, with or without a stick," Lyndon Terracini, artistic director of Opera Australia, told the newspaper. "I'm more than happy for audience members to do that before the opera begins or at interval, but not during the production when it could disturb performers or other patrons."
These horror sticks have got to go, and it's good to see Down Under taking a stand. The National Gallery of Victoria, the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra and the National Portrait Gallery, among other cultural institutions worldwide, banned the sticks inside their premises earlier this year.
Australia must not stop now. Just say no to the selfie stick.