Australia Day public holiday: Sydney pubs avoid using the words for January 26 ... trends now
Pubs are steering clear of using the words 'Australia Day' in advertising for upcoming events on the January 26 public holiday, with some avoiding festivities altogether.
In Sydney, hotels in Darlinghurst, Double Bay, Miranda, Cronulla and others are marketing their party events for the controversial date as 'public holiday eve'.
It comes as debate ramps up before this year's Australia Day public holiday - which commemorates the date in 1788 when the first fleet arrived from Britain into Sydney's Port Jackson.
The Burdekin Hotel in Sydney's inner-city Darlinghurst is one of the venues branding their party events as 'public holiday eve' (pictured) leading into January 26
The Australia Day public holiday is traditionally a day where Australians take to the beaches, pubs, sporting events, BBQs and outdoor concerts to celebrate
Social media ads (pictured) for the Golden Sheaf pub and garden bar in Sydney's Double Bay avoid using the words 'Australia Day' to publicise upcoming celebrations heading into January 26
The Australia Day public holiday is traditionally a day where Australians take to the beaches, pubs, sporting events, BBQs and outdoor concerts to celebrate.
But indigenous advocates and communities who consider January 26 to be 'Invasion Day' have repeatedly called for the date of national celebration to be changed.
For them the day represents the pain and suffering first Australians experienced after the arrival of the colonising fleet more than 200 years ago.
The Burdekin Hotel in Sydney's inner-city Darlinghurst is one venue branding their party events as a 'public holiday eve' the night before January 26.
Burdekin Hotel manager Aaron told Daily Mail Australia naming his event as an Australia Day party was 'insensitive to first nations people'.
'I think there are better ways to approach the day. Rather than a celebration of the first fleet arriving it should be about Aboriginal culture,' he said.
'There are still effects that are flowing down to first nations people [from colonisation].'
