Australian Venue Co – one of the country’s largest hospitality groups with more than 200 bars, pubs and restaurants in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania – has decided to cancel its usual January 26 celebrations. The group, which operates big Sydney venues such as the newly reopened Cargo, Kingsleys Woolloomooloo, BrewDog South Eveleigh, The Winery, Untied and Little Pearl, said the decision was made to support Australia’s First Nations Peoples.
"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," an Australian Venue Co spokeswoman told the Herald Sun.
Australia Day only became a national public holiday in 1994; the date is a reference to the arrival of Britain’s First Fleet at Port Jackson in 1788. For many Aboriginal Australians, this date is a painful reminder of colonisation. In recent years, more Australians have pushed to change the date of the country’s national day. In 2017, popular radio station Triple J moved its Hottest 100 countdown away from happening on Australia Day, and earlier this year, supermarket giants Woolworths and Aldi confirmed they would no longer sell Australia Day merch. More than 80 councils across the country no longer hold citizenship ceremonies on January 26, while Invasion Day rallies continue to draw thousands of attendees.
You can check out AVC's whole list of venues here.
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