OPINION:
Australia Day ban fizzle
Despite efforts from a vocal few to change the date, multiple opinion polls show the vast majority of Aussies are happy with things the way they are.
The latest poll, commissioned by the Institute of Public Affairs, found 63 per cent don’t support a change and another 20 per cent had no opinion.
“Importantly, over the past five years fewer than one-in-five Australians have indicated they do not support Australia Day on January 26,” IPA deputy executive director Daniel Wild said.
“Despite this, there is a continued, relentless campaign by inner-city elites, the political class, big business, and civil society to cancel our national day.”
Young Aussies are more likely to back changing the date. Daniel Wild said “It is concerning just 42 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 support Australia Day on January 26. This is a direct result of relentless indoctrination taking place at schools and universities."
There are more than three times as many Australians that want to celebrate Australia Day on 26th January than want to change it. A perfect example of the tail wagging the dog was the announcement that Australia Venue Co planned to ban Australia Day festivities for patrons at more than 200 venues around the country. This tradition has been most consistently celebrated in NSW until the same date was legislated across the Federation so a strong backlash was fanned by the ban.
For a few years news.com.au has been campaigning to change the date of Australia Day. A decisive response to their online poll was obtained from more than 13 thousand votes over the weekend:
Will you boycott a pub which has banned Australia Day?
Yes, I will boycott 90 %
No, I will not boycott 10 %
Australian Venue Co (AVC), which is 80 per cent owned by Singapore-based investment firm PAG promptly backflipped on its plan to ban Australia Day festivities for patrons around the country.
In a statement released Monday, the company admitted the decision had caused “concern and confusion.”
“We sincerely regret that – our purpose is to reinforce community in our venues, not divide it. It is not for us to tell anyone whether or how to celebrate Australia Day.”
The move from the major hospitality group drew heated criticism from shadow Indigenous Australians minister Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who accused AVC of contributing towards political polarisation in Australia.
“Could this be considered foreign interference?” Ms Price said to Sky News’ Peta Credlin.
“It's a pub group out of Singapore … deciding for us how we should celebrate or not celebrate our national day.
“I'm sick to death of the separatism in this country. I'm sick to death of those who are trying to be politicians who aren't politicians telling the rest of the country how to do things (and) how to think as Australians.”
Ms Price, who staunchly opposed corporate Australia’s backing of the Voice to Parliament in 2023, called out the culture of many major Australian companies.
“If these corporates want to continue down this path of nonsense, then don't just virtue signal,” she said.
“Why don't you do something? This corporation - they can go and they can invest in rehabilitation for those who suffer in domestic and family violence because of the causes of alcohol in our country (and) in remote communities.”
She argued that if AVC “really cared for Aboriginal people more than about hurt feelings” it should invest in programs which help Indigenous Australians struggling with alcoholism.
“I implore this group and others who want to do this to go and do something that will actually have a positive effect on the ground - go and invest in rehabilitation,” Ms Price said.
Adding to the severe backlash was Indigenous leader Warren Mundine who said AVC was “probably the worst” instance of a company engaging in virtue signaling over Australia Day.
He pointed to backlash which companies within Woolworths Group received for its stance on Australia Day at the start of 2024 alongside criticism of corporate Australia backing the Voice to Parliament.
“They’ve seen it through the Voice campaign and they saw it last Australia Day… and then they’ve still come out before the next Australia Day and come up with this dog of an idea,” he told Sky News’ Sharri Markson.
“At a time when we need to come together and to work together, we have a stupid company like the AVC coming out and saying we’re not going to celebrate Australia Day,” Mr Mundine said.
New York-based owners KKR sold its 80 per cent stake in the country’s second-largest pubs group for a reported $1.4 billion to PAG Private Equity in August 2023. At the time, AVC chief executive Paul Waterson said the agreement marked an exciting time for the company and its 8500 employees.
“We look forward to working with our new partners in PAG,” he said in a statement. “Their investment affirms the strength of the platform and our future growth potential in Australia and New Zealand.”
KKR first acquired the hospitality group in 2017 when it had just 50 venues. Under KKR’s ownership Mr Waterson spearheaded nearly 160 purchases, growing AVC’s portfolio to 212 locations.
News of the Australia Day ban first came as The Australian reported PAG was considering an exit of AVC by floating the hospitality group on the ASX next year.
The list of venues potentially exposed to a boycott was posted in the media on the weekend:
Victoria
• Anglers Tavern
• Apollo Bay Hotel
• Auburn Hotel
• Ball Court Hotel
• Beer DeLuxe Fed Square
• Birallee Tavern
• BrewDog Pentridge
• College Lawn Hotel
• Criterion Hotel
• Eureka Hotel
• Fairfield Park Boathouse
• Fargo and Co
• Flinders Hotel
• Garden State Hotel
• Golden Gate Hotel
• Harlow
• Holliava
• Hopscotch
• Hotham Hotel
• Imperial Hotel Bourke St
• Imperial South Yarra
• Melbourne Public
• Middle Park Hotel
• Morris House
• Perseverance
• Prahran Hotel
• Prince Alfred Hotel
• Prince of Wales Hotel
• Public House
• Richmond Club Hotel
• River’s Edge Events
• Skinny Dog Hotel
• State of Grace
• Studley Park Boathouse
• Swan Hotel
• Terminus Hotel Abbotsford
• The Bridge Hotel
• The Crafty Squire
• The Duke of Wellington
• The Esplanade Hotel
• The Exchange Hotel
• The Gardiner Hotel
• The Hawthorn Hotel
• The Local
• The Park
• The Posty
• The Provincial
• The Smith
• The Station Hotel
• The Terminus Yarrawonga
• The Victoria Hotel
• The Wharf Hotel
• Trinket
• Village Belle Hotel
• West Beach Pavilion
• Yarra Botanica
• Yarra Valley Grand Hotel
Queensland
• Airlie Beach Hotel
• Barron River Hotel
• Beenleigh Tavern
• Berserker Tavern
• Birkdale Gardens Tavern
• Bonny View Hotel
• Boomerang Hotel
• Bribie Island Hotel
• Brighton Hotel
• Browns Plains Hotel
• Burleigh Town Hotel
• Cannon Hill Tavern
• Capella Hotel
• Carindale Hotel
• Chancellors Tavern
• Cleveland Sands Hotel
• Cleveland Tavern
• Club Hotel Waterford
• Commercial Hotel
• Commonwealth Hotel
• Coomera Lodge Hotel
• Crown Hotel
• Currimundi Hotel
• Diamonds Kallangur
• Diamonds Tavern Varsity Lakes
• Dunwoody’s Hotel
• Empire Alternacade & Events
• Enigma
• Everton Park Hotel
• Ferry Road Tavern
• Finn McCool’s Brisbane
• Finnigan’s Chin Keperra
• Fitzy’s Loganholme
• Fitzy’s Waterford
• Friday’s
• Grafton Hotel Edmonton
• Grand Hotel Motel
• Hey Chica
• Hope Island Tavern
• Hotel Allen
• Hotel HQ Underwood
• Inala Hotel
• Jindalee Hotel
• Jubilee Tavern
• Kings Beach Tavern
• Koala Tavern
• Kooyong Hotel
• Lefty’s Music Hall
• Leichhardt Hotel
• Lulu Rooftop Bar
• Mango Hill Tavern
• Mansfield Tavern Brisbane
• Mihi Tavern
• Morayfield Tavern
• Mount Sheridan Tavern
• Newnham Hotel
• Old Bundy Tavern
• Palm Cove Tavern
• Port Office Hotel
• Portadown Hotel
• Redcliffe Tavern
• Reef Gateway Hotel
• Regatta Hotel
• Retro’s Brisbane
• Riverland Brisbane
• Royal Hotel Nundah
• Royal Mail Hotel
• Runaway Bay Tavern
• Salisbury Hotel
• Sands Tavern
• Springlake Hotel
• Sundowner Hotel Motel
• Surfair Beach Hotel
• Taigum Tavern
• The Anthill
• The Boundary Hotel
• The Club Hotel Gladstone
• The Commonwealth Hotel Roma
• The Kenmore
• The Local Tavern
• The Lord Alfred Hotel
• The Mansfield Townsville
• The Metropolitan Hotel
• The Ox
• The Strand Hotel
• The White Bull Tavern
• The Wickham
• Tom’s Tavern
• Trinity Beach Tavern
• Wallaby Hotel
• Waterloo Hotel
• Woodpecker Bar & Grill
NSW
• Albion Hotel
• Beer Deluxe Albury
• Beer Deluxe T2
• BrewDog South Eveleigh
• Bungalow8
• Cargo
• Henley’s Kitchen & Bar
• Kingsleys Woolloomooloo
• Little Pearl Bar
• North Byron Hotel
• Salt Bar
• The Bended Elbow
• The Rook
• The Winery
• Untied
South Australia
• Avenues Café & Bar
• Brighton Metro Hotel
• Hampstead Hotel
• Mick O’Shea’s Hotel
• Naracoorte Hotel
• Parkside Hotel
• Payneham Tavern
• Robe Hotel
• The Colonist
• The Duck
• The Grand Junction Tavern
• The Hope Inn
• The Mile End Hotel
• The Unley
• The West End Tavern
• Victoria Hotel
• Waterloo Station Hotel
• Western Tavern
Council backflips
Within ten days of posting this, it has been reported that Victorian councils have stepped back from previous decisions to cancel Australia Day celebrations and are now voting to reinstate activities on January 26.
When the City of Greater Geelong conducted further community consultation it revealed many residents were dissatisfied with the council’s decision.
Mayor Stretch Kontelj said he fully supported the decision to reconsider celebrating Australia Day on January 26.
Geelong’s newly elected local council has taken a major step towards overturning an Australia Day ban passed by the previous council in 2023.
The City of Greater Geelong had ceased referring to January 26 as Australia Day and had stopped holding citizenship ceremonies on the national holiday thanks to a local council motion which passed unanimously in May last year.
However, the local council elections held in October saw all but four of the 11 previous councillors turfed out, and the newly elected council moved quickly to reverse the previous council's stance with a motion being proposed in the first substantive council meeting after representatives were sworn in.
Other Victorian councils also adopted similar action in 2023, which saw the City of Greater Bendigo move its Australia Day citizenship ceremony to January 25.
The Strathbogie Shire Council had also voted to stop supporting Australia Day celebrations on January 26 from this year and beyond but reversed its decision at a council meeting on Tuesday.
In an open letter from community group Eurora Australia Day Committee, residents asked the newly elected council to reinstate the nationally gazetted day after being disappointed by the previous council’s move to cancel the day.
A local council in South Australia has backflipped on its decision to move Australia Day celebrations away from January 26. Councillors with the City of Unley, a small council area that covers Adelaide’s prosperous southern inner-city, voted 8-4 on Monday night to restore its citizenship ceremony and Australia Day awards to January 26, after earlier voting to move the events to the evening of January 25.
The reversal, proposed by Councillor Rebekah Rogers, followed a community survey that showed 60.6 per cent of residents wanted the council to keep the ceremonies on January 26. “We cannot ask our community for their opinion and then not listen to the result,” Ms Rogers said on Monday.
A common thread across these reports is that community office bearers appear to have responded when they have acknowledged that decisions that had been made were contrary to the prevailing opinion.
References:
Evans, Duncan, 2024. City of Unley Council votes to restore Australia Day ceremonies to January 26. news.com.au/National/South Australia/24th September 2024
Chung, Frank, 2024. Australia Day-banning pub group Australian Venue Co owned by Hong Kong private equity firm PAG. news.com.au/Lifestyle/Food/3rd December 2024.
Hannaford, Patrick, 2024. Geelong's newly elected local council has taken a major step towards reversing a 2023 Australia Day ban. www.skynews.com.au/Australia-News/Politics/December 11, 2024
Harrison, James, 2024. Australian Venues Co under fire from Warren Mundine, Jacinta Price after apologising over controversial Australia Day ban. skynews.com.au/Australia News/Politics/2nd December 2024.
Jackson, Blair and Ryan Bourke, 2024. Pub giant ‘sincerely regrets’ ban on festivities across 200 venues. news.com.au/Lifestyle/Food/2nd December 2024.
Kirk, Emma, 2024. A large regional council is reconsidering a decision to not celebrate Australia Day on January 26, after further consultation with the community. news.com.au/Victoria/National/ News. December 11, 2024.
Molloy, Shannon, 2024. ‘Change is inevitable’: Australia Day’s future survival in its current form is in doubt. news.com.au/National/Politics/20th January 2024.
Wu, David, 2024. Australian Venue Co announces ban of Australia Day celebrations at more than 200 bars and pubs due to 'hurt' on patrons, staff. Sky News/Australia News/2nd December 2024.
(-), news.co.au, 2024. Change the date. news.com.au/Topics/3rd December 2024.
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