Australian Venue Co snubs Australia Day again with latest promotion
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has urged Aussies to call Australian Venue Co and “express their view” about its refusal to acknowledge Australia Day, saying its stance was out of line with the “vast majority” of the nation.
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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has urged Aussies to call Australian Venue Co and “express their view” about its Australia Day stance, saying it was out of line with the “vast majority” the nation.
Mr Dutton said the company, which owns more than 200 venues across Australia, should be upfront about their position so patrons can make a decision about whether they want to patronise their venues.
“Australia Day should be a great celebration of an amazing country,” he said on Thursday.
“We should be incredibly proud of our Indigenous history, proud of our European heritage and proud of the great migrant story.
“Why somebody would be ashamed of that is beyond me. And why somebody who ... reaps a huge profit off the back of hard working Australians. Why they would shun the wishes of those Australians because the vast majority of Australians, particularly patrons going into some of these establishments, want us to celebrate Australia Day is something that that company will have to explain.
“I just say to patrons who know the pubs ... that this company owns, I would encourage them to call the company and express their view.”
Dutton’s comments come after it was revealed the pub giant, which was previously forced to apologise about a controversial Australia Day celebration ban, was still refusing to acknowledge the national holiday, instead encouraging Aussies to simply celebrate the “long weekend”.
Despite blatantly omitting January 26 as a public holiday in any promotional material, venues owned by hospitality giant Australian Venue Co are choosing to celebrate National Lasagna Day, Valentines Day and the Super Bowl.
The foreign-owned company, which boasts more than 200 pubs and bars, is also remaining tight lipped on whether it will slap public holiday charges on patrons.
Australian Venue Co faced widespread backlash and community boycott threats last month after the Herald Sun revealed it banned Australia Day celebrations because it “causes sadness” and “hurt” for some patrons and its team.
It issued an embarrassing apology saying it wasn’t its “intention to offend anyone” or “tell anyone whether or how to celebrate Australia Day”.
But opposition spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said intentionally avoiding the use of Australia Day in marketing material was “telling people not to celebrate Australia Day – that this day is something to be ashamed of, something that isn’t even worthy of being mentioned.”
“It is hypocritical for the company to be advertising events and seeking the benefit of increased patronage on the public holiday if they are so ashamed of it,” Senator Price said.
“But more importantly, this kind of behaviour also fractures and sows division within our communities.
“It’s un-Australian and anyone who wants to celebrate, reflect and be grateful for our democratic and prosperous nation should go elsewhere this weekend and support those businesses who aren’t ashamed or afraid to celebrate our nation either.”
Indigenous leader Warren Mundine accused the pubs group of being “dreadful human beings”, saying “they don’t mind taking our money but they just don’t like us”.
“They don’t like Australia, they hate the place. It’s about time we started to point that out but do it in a happy way,” Mr Mundine said.
“We should all turn up at the pub wearing our Australian flags and celebrating Australia Day and sticking our middle finger up at these bigots because that’s what they are.
“We will wear our thongs and our silly shirts and go in there and order beers and sing the national anthem and have a great time.”
Wurundjeri man Ian Hunter accused people crying over Australia Day of being “condescending”, claiming they were “trying to erase history because they don’t know it and they don’t feel proud about being Australian”.
Mr Hunter urged Australians to “celebrate it and commemorate it (January 26)” because nobody had come up with a date to change it to.
“People from remote communities recognise it as a day of celebration,” he said.
“You go into any remote community and ask them about it and they go ‘we all get together on that day, we all have fun, play cricket or footy, have a big barbecue’.”
Mr Hunter called on Australian politicians to take a leaf out of US President Donald Trump’s book and say “hey, Australians are going to be proud of Australia”.
Iconic Australian businessman Dick Smith said banning mentions of Australia Day was “very un-Australian”.
Cook MP Simon Kennedy added: “I think many proud Australians will vote with their wallets and their feet and take their business elsewhere”.
A new poll last week revealed a “vibe shift” against corporate activism had led to a surge in support for celebrating Australia Day on January 26, with a large uptick among Australians aged 18-24.
The Herald Sun has contacted Australian Venue Co six times asking whether it will impose the public holiday surcharge on Australia Day.
But the Hong Kong owned company – which has almost 60 venues in Victoria, 20 in South Australia, at least 90 in Queensland and 10 in Sydney – has refused to respond.
Australian Taxpayers Alliance president Brian Marlow said they need to give customers a straight answer.
“Are they going to whack a surcharge on or not? If they are, they should be celebrating Australia Day and everything that makes this country so great,” Mr Marlow said.
“These people need to realise that nobody cares about their virtue signalling anymore.
“I hope they go bankrupt so future pub owners can fill the void and bring back fun instead of the constant hectoring we see at the moment.”
Woolworths, which faced boycott calls last year after controversially deciding to stop selling Australia Day merchandise, backflipped on the decision earlier this month.
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