Ignore woke and don’t go broke: businesses backing in Australia Day see customers spending big

Patriotic businesses that celebrate Australia Day are adhering to the ‘go woke, go broke’ rule and cashing in on strong public support for our national day.

Sara Rehn, Mariele Fretta and Felicity Rowe celebrate at the Kent Town Hotel in Adelaide with the Australia Day mixed grill … and plenty of patriotism. Picture Matt Turner

Patriotic businesses that celebrate Australia Day are adhering to the “go woke, go broke” rule and cashing in on strong public support for our national day.

Amid a major public backlash over corporate decrees on the apparent insensitivity of January 26 as a day of celebration, other businesses are enjoying a bonanza by throwing their unabashed support behind the date in line with majority opinion.

Hotel giant Australian Venue Co sparked anger last December when it declared Australia Day would not be observed at its 234 nationwide venues – a position it first recanted amid a public outcry but strangely reaffirmed this week, despite having previously apologised for the distress caused.

The company’s ham-fisted tactics have created an opening for other pubs which are going all out in celebration mode, with the Kent Town Hotel in Adelaide’s inner east now promoting an entire month of Australia Day Celebrations.

“The team at the Kent Town Hotel reckon one day is not enough to celebrate Australia Day,” their advertisements state, promising $7.50 Coopers pints, 1kg buckets of Port Lincoln prawns for $49 and a special “Aussie BBQ” mixed grill for $22.

Owner Tom Hannah told The Weekend Australian that patrons were “sick and tired” of being lectured to about how they should and shouldn’t behave and think.

He said the backlash against the actions of Australian Venue Co had created an opening for others who see themselves as “publicans not preachers”.

“As Napoleon Bonaparte said, never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake,” Mr Hannah told The Weekend Australian.

“Clearly, they have upset a lot of people and if they want to be preachers rather than publicans that’s fine but some of us don’t take ourselves too seriously.

“We love this country and we think people should be allowed to celebrate it.”

South Australia’s biggest hotelier Peter Hurley is also hosting major Australia Day celebrations at the Hurley Group’s 10 venues in South Australia.

In a reversal of the tactics seen by the ABC’s Triple J, which in 2017 stopped playing its annual Hottest 100 on January 26, the Hurley Group is staging an “Oz Music Day” concert at its landmark Arkaba Hotel celebrating the songs of Cold Chisel, INXS and AC/DC.

Hurley was quick to condemn the actions of Australian Venue Co last year, saying as far as he was concerned pubs should be “in the fun business, not the political correctness business”.

Supermarkets have also ­become a field in the battle for the patriotic dollar, with independently owned Drakes Super­markets again ensuring that Australia Day products – including stubbie holders, flags and table ­settings – are given prominent ­position in their 68 stores across South Australia and Queensland.

Drakes supermarket director John-Paul Drake went to war last year with Woolworths, which he labelled “Wokeworths” in a derisive Instagram post after the supermarket giant said it had withdrawn Australia Day products from sale.

John-Paul Drake with an Australia Day flag in his Wayville store. Picture: Brenton Edwards

“Whether you choose to celebrate Australia Day or not is totally up to you,” Drake wrote on his viral post.

As a result of the publicity, Drakes experienced a major spike in sales in January 2024, with many customers thanking their staff for supporting Australia Day and saying they’d resolved never to shop at Woolworths again.

Mr Drake’s father, Drakes founder and owner Roger Drake, said politicians and corporate leaders were misreading the mood on Australia Day, saying he believed support for January 26 was growing as a result.

“In business I practise what I call MBWA, Management By Walking Around, and I think the pollies and some in the big end of town need to do a bit of MBWA with the public when it comes to telling them how to think and act,” he said.

“The public has had enough of all this correctness and wokeness. I don’t care if you are black, white or brindle – we are one nation.

“This country has been made up of families who have come here from the four corners of the earth – Indigenous people, entrepreneurs, heroes from Don Bradman to Cathy Freeman.

“We have plenty to celebrate and people want to celebrate.

“We are selling a lot of Australia Day memorabilia and we always will. We celebrate Chinese New Year and observe that in stores with a line of products so if we can’t do it for Australia Day it’s just crazy.

“The average punter has had enough of it. We saw what happened with the voice. People don’t like being lectured to and they don’t like being divided. It is a day of unity.”