Pub chain owner backtracks on plans to ban Australia Day celebrations after outcry
By Juliana Liu, CNN
(CNN) — A major Australian restaurant group known for its pubs has backtracked on plans to ban celebrations during the country’s national day following public criticism and calls for a boycott, in yet another sign of how controversial the anniversary has become.
Debate continues to swirl over whether to commemorate January 26, the date that British Royal Navy officer Arthur Phillip crossed Sydney Cove in 1788, planting the Union Jack to proclaim the new colony for the Crown.
An increasing number of non-Indigenous Australians now find it difficult to celebrate Australia Day, in the knowledge that many of their Indigenous fellow citizens treat it as a day of mourning.
Australian Venue Co, which has more than 200 outlets across the country, said over the weekend that it was banning celebrations on the public holiday. According to CNN affiliate 9 News, the group said the day was known for causing “sadness” and “hurt” for many patrons and staff.
The announcement resulted in petitions against the ban and swift online calls for a boycott of the group’s bars and pubs. On Monday, the company reversed course.
“It’s not for us to tell anyone whether or how to celebrate Australia Day,” it said in a statement posted on social media. “It certainly wasn’t our intention to offend anyone.”
“Whether you choose to celebrate Australia Day or not, everyone is welcome in our pubs, always. We have been, and are always, open over Australia Day and we continue to book events for patrons,” added Australian Venue, which says it has 15 million customers a year and employs 9,600 people.
The pub chain had been the latest in a number of well-known businesses to cut ties with the holiday.
At the beginning of the year, retailer Woolworths said it would no longer stock merchandise promoting the holiday. A few weeks later, it issued a statement defending itself, saying it wasn’t trying to “cancel” celebrations.
“Our commercial decision to not stock specific Australian Day general merchandise was made on the basis of steeply declining sales,” it said “(As) a business decision, it doesn’t make commercial sense.”
Aldi later followed suit, saying it would stop selling merchandise, such as T-shirts and thongs, according to 9News. Kmart had reportedly stopped in 2023. Multiple local councils have also dropped celebrations on the day as attitudes have changed about the anniversary.
Many of Australia’s Indigenous peoples, and an increasing number of the non-Indigenous or “settler” population, have long dubbed the national holiday “Invasion Day” or “Survival Day,” acknowledging British settlement as first and foremost an act of Indigenous dispossession.
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