AROUND 250,000 thrifty people attended Perth’s Australia Day Skyworks show, donating an average of three cents per person to bushfire relief.

City of Perth commissioners decided to turn the event into a fundraiser with 50 volunteers walking among the crowd collecting donations in buckets and via EFTPOS.

So far the total is $57,521.30, which sounds reasonable – except that $50,000 is a single donation from the council itself.

Despite premier Mark McGowan’s encouragement to “dig deep” and “turn Skyworks 2020 into a huge fundraising event”, the $7251 raised by the public represents about three cents per attendee.

While the cup didn’t run over, the council’s general manager of community development Anne-Banks McCallister said in a media statement the turnout was a great success and “I am delighted by the outpouring of generosity from our community”.