Opposition leader Peter Dutton has attacked a major operator of Australian pubs' reported banning of formal January 26 celebrations, a day after the group seemingly backtracked on their comments and apologised for causing "concern and confusion".
At the weekend, the foreign-owned Australian Venue Co, which operates more than 200 venues across the country, directed managers to the decision, according to News Corp.
"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," a company spokesperson told News Corp.
Following a backlash, the company addressed the matter in a statement, stating "Whether you choose to celebrate Australia Day or not, everyone is welcome in our pubs".
"We can see that our comments on the weekend have caused both concern and confusion. We sincerely regret that - our purpose is to reinforce community in our venues, not divide it," Australian Venue Co put out to social media on Monday.
"It is not for us to tell anyone whether or how to celebrate Australia Day. We acknowledge that and we apologise for our comments. It certainly wasn't our intention to offend anyone.
"We employ 9,600 people across the country. And we welcome 15 million patrons each year to our venues. Across our community of team members and patrons, many different views are held and we acknowledge that.
"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."
Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation chief executive, and previous Treaty Advancement Commissioner Aunty Jill Gallagher welcomed the initial reported position, saying "I thought they were very brave and very bold", and later "sad" to hear the resulting apology.
"They were very brave to make that stand, and for that I applaud them," she told 3AW Radio on Monday.
Aunty Gill also clarified she feels "Aboriginal voices are not saying that we don't celebrate. We're just saying pick a date where we can all celebrate as one country", and that January 26 had long been a day of mourning.
Also on Monday, shadow minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price told Sky News she was "sick to death of the separatism in this country".
"I think we've got to a point of absolute nonsense in our country," Senator Price said.
She claimed the Voice referendum defeat represented Australians voting no to "continuing to push the victim narrative onto Indigenous Australians, ultimately disempowering Indigenous Australians by suggesting we're all victims of our country's history".
Mr Dutton attempted to squeeze more political mileage out of the incident, continuing his criticism following Australian Venue Co's apology.
"I think these companies feel that they'll be popular on social media if they adopt these positions. But I think what they found out is that the public, not just in Victoria, but across the country, are pretty angry when they are lectured to by these companies," Dutton told 3AW on Wednesday afternoon.
In January 2024, Mr Dutton urged a public boycott of Woolworths following the grocery retailer announced it would not be selling additional Australia Day-themed products at its supermarkets or Big W stores.
"I thought it (Australian Venue Co's reported initial stance) was just ridiculous, and it was reminiscent of what happened with Woolworths....And frankly, a lot of the companies who contributed millions of dollars of taxpayers money to the Voice. I just don't think we go to a pub to be lectured to on politics," Mr Dutton said this week.
