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Miss Universe Australia unveils her 2017 national costume. It's unlike anything we've ever seen.

The 2017 Miss Universe pageant dress for Australia has just been unveiled, and boy is it a mind-boggling mess of cultural confusion.

Debuting the creation on Thursday morning’s edition of The Today Show, this year’s Miss Australia, Caris Tiivel, explained that the cascading multicoloured creation was designed to represent the Great Barrier Reef and attempt to raise awareness around coral bleaching.

Created by Australian designer Steph Audino, Tiivel is already preparing herself for backlash.

A photo posted by Caris Tiivel (@caris_tiivel) on

“The dress can be a bit of a talking point, sometimes in some years they haven’t been to everyone’s taste,” the breakfast show hosts said. “Are you prepared for this to become a topic of conversation?”

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“I think it’s stunning, and in Australia, it’s always hard to find the costumes always have a bit of a mixed reaction from the public because Australia doesn’t really have a traditional costume, so our ones are inspired by landmarks or famous people in Australia,” the Perth native said.

“I think it’s stunning and it really represents the Great Barrier Reef and Australia really well.”

A photo posted by thetodayshow (@thetodayshow) on

Viewers, however, did not agree and wasted no time in saying so.

“Looks like an overblown Christmas decoration,” one viewer said on Facebook.

“This Miss Universe Australia costume looks more post-xmas cat bum extrusion/toilet roll dolly and not at all like a coral reef,” another viewer said on Twitter.

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“Our Miss Universe Australia costume is inspired by the Great Barrier Reef… and it just looks like a giant mound of leftover Xmas tinsel,” wrote another.

A photo posted by Caris Tiivel (@caris_tiivel) on

“Really the best we can do?” one Instagram user asked.

Perhaps viewers are forgetting, though, that in 2010 we sent Jesinta Campbell down the catwalk in HIGH HEELED UGG BOOTS AND A SHEEPSKIN BOLERO.

And Erin McNaught in denim shorts and an akubra.

The Miss Universe Pageant will take place on January 30 in the Philippines.