WA Miss Universe Australia could become face of the nation amid bushfires, coronavirus and Black Lives Matter

From bushfires to racial protests to a global pandemic, being a ‘Miss Universe’ hits differently in 2020.

WA’s Miss Universe Australia finalists Diana Coniglio, Zara Edgar and Tasha Marciano are facing the fact that come October, they could be taking out the title in a year that will forever be synonymous with global pain.

And as potential spokespeople for our entire nation on a global stage, understanding their own white privilege has never been more important.

“I think we’ve just learnt a lot, I came into the pageant not knowing much about racial like stuff, its been hard when the whole coronavirus went down, we’ve learnt so much,” Coniglio, 21, told AAA Weekend.

“Troy (Barbagallo, pageant organiser) actually gave us a book to read called White Fragility, I think that is what made us open our eyes, you see what is on social media but not actually reading about everything.”

“I don't think I would be at that same level of education (in this moment) if I had done it in another year,” Edgar agreed.

Marciano says she feels she brings a different diversity to a competition with a stereotyped history.

“I think the meaning of Miss Universe... no matter what’s going on in the world, that the title of Miss Universe Australia as a world stage is quite a coveted thing,” she said.

“That’s why I’m really passionate about diversity in the way people look, people’s shape and size... whether it be people’s race, colour, religion... even their height, I think it’s about time we all sort of were looked at as people, not as a curve model, or as a black model.”

The Miss Universe Australia competition’s main event was given a new date of October 30, after being forced to postpone due to coronavirus.

The finals are set to take place in Melbourne with a crowd as normal, despite the state recording its highest number of COVID-19 cases in a single day yesterday.