Sydney pubs, clubs, venues ditch Australia Day parties

Gone are the days of in-house sausage sizzles and flags on every surface— Sydney venues have all but scrapped their Australia Day celebrations, and they say their punters are the reason.

Australia Day fails the pub test with Sydney venues opting out of Australia Day parties or even name checking the day in their marketing.

In the past the national public holiday used to be a day of parties with many venues advertising Australia Day themed BBQs, flags in the windows or serving kangaroo tacos.

This year, many of these same venues are not advertising anything on the day or if they are, leave the word Australia Day out of their marketing.

The Clovelly Hotel in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs has often been the centre of public holiday celebrations. While they are open on the public holiday, they‘ve got no special activities.

Licensee Dan Murphy said the day has become “divisive.”

Dan Murphy, licensee of The Clovely Hotel which is open Australia Day but not hosting the usual Australia Day celebration this year. Picture: David Swift

“It’s a sign of the times. It used to be one of my favourite days of the year growing up. It was a celebration of Australian culture. Now while it’s still a culturally significant day, learning more about what it means to parts of the community, to tie in a celebration with that would be inappropriate,” he said.

“This is not a political stand. As a business we are trying to be neutral, like Switzerland. We don’t want to dictate what other people do with the day.”

Mr Murphy said venue made the decision because punters’ views of the day had changed. Picture: David Swift

Murphy adds the mood is shared by many venues in the area.

“If you look around, no one is really promoting it,” he said.

Instead the venue is hosting a special event for the “Public Holiday Eve” with DJs from 4pm till close and will stream Triple J’s Hottest 100 on the Saturday.

In the past The Watson’s Bay Hotel has held Australia Day parties with DJs spinning Aussie hits and the kitchen serving themed meals.

The Watson’s Bay Hotel are also not hosting any events labelled as Australia Day celebrations.

This year, while they are open, it’s business as usual with no DJs or anything special to note.

Forrester’s in Surry Hills will be closed on Australia Day, but are calling their activities the night before “public holiday eve.”

An industry source told The Daily Telegraph that many venues were making decisions based on the local community.

“Pubs are hyper local and there is an expectation they reflect the values of the community which they operate in,” they said.

“Often, they are reflecting what the locals have decided.”

In the past, The Newtown Hotel has completely banned customers from wearing Australian flag attire and accessories in their location.