Hundreds of pubs cancel Australia Day celebrations
Hundreds of pubs in Australia will not be celebrating Australia Day due to the "hurt" the day causes some patrons.
The nation’s second-biggest pubs group, Australian Venue Co, informed its managers of the decision to cancel the January 26th celebrations at more than 200 of its venues around the country.
An Australian Venue Co spokeswoman told News Corp that the venues in question will not acknowledge or celebrate the national holiday out of respect.
“Australia Day is a day that causes sadness for some members of our community, so we have decided not to specifically celebrate a day that causes hurt for some of our patrons and our team,” the spokeswoman said.
Australian Venue Co’s website says it owns and operates the country’s “best-loved pubs, bars and event spaces”, including “landmark” institutions and humble locals.
Potentially affected locations include popular pubs in Victoria: The Esplanade Hotel and Prince of Wales in St Kilda, and the Duke of Wellington and Garden State Hotel in Melbourne.
Others are the iconic Regatta Hotel and The Port Office Hotel in Brisbane, Sydney’s Cargo and Adelaide’s The Colonist and the Parkside Hotel.
For many Indigenous Australians, January 26th marks the “invasion” of Britain’s First Fleet in 1788.
For them it is a day of great sorrow that reminds of the impact of colonialism on their culture, land and people.
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