Australia Day celebrations have been banned in dozens of clubs and pubs, including Cargo and Bungalow8

Hundreds of high-profile pubs and clubs will not celebrate Australia Day after the country’s second-largest hospitality giant vetoed the commemoration of the national holiday.

Australian Venue Co says the January 26 public holiday is causing “sadness” and “pain” for many customers and staff.

The company owns more than 200 locations across Australia, including at least 90 in Queensland and another 60 in Victoria.

They include the Bungalow8, Cargo, Kingsley’s Woolloomooloo and Parkside Hotel in Sydney, as well as the Esplanade Hotel, Prince of Wales, Duke of Wellington and Garden State Hotel in Melbourne.

The Claremont Hotel and Bassendean Hotels in Perth, the Regatta Hotel, the Boundary Hotel and Fridays riverside bar in Brisbane will also avoid the festivities, as will the Parkside Hotel and the Colonist in Adelaide.

“Australia Day is a day that causes pain for some members of our community, so we have decided not to specifically celebrate a day that causes pain for some of our customers and team,” a spokesperson for Australia Venues Co told the Herald Sun.

Indigenous activist Warren Mundine had some colorful advice for those who wanted to celebrate on January 26.

“Don’t bother having a drink in their halls, get rid of those bastards,” he said after learning of the boycott.

A giant hospitality group has announced that Australia Day will not be celebrated at its more than 200 locations across the country

Mr Mundine, who led last year’s successful campaign against Indigenous Voice to Parliament, said the real reason “woke companies” are refusing to celebrate Australia Day is “they just hate the country”.

“They hate Australians, they hate Australia, and that’s why they do these things,” he said.

Mr Mundine urged Australian revelers to instead head to the beach, barbecue some lamb and sausages or get takeaway from a restaurant “that really cares about this country – not hating Australians – and we’ll have a great time’.

Wurundjeri elder Ian Hunter added: “It’s condescending, they think we are doing the best for Indigenous people.”

Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett branded the decision as ‘extraordinary’ and ‘divisive’.

“They are completely out of touch with the community,” he said.

“If no one wants to participate in the Australia Day celebrations at one of their locations, that would be fine.

Controversy remains over celebrating the date when the First Fleet arrived from England to colonize Australia and Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack to claim Sydney Cove to claim it for the British Crown in 1788.

The Garden State Hotel in Victoria will be one of the high-profile locations not hosting Australia Day celebrations

The resulting dispossession of the indigenous population has led many to say the date is one of mourning and loss, which has been relabeled as ‘Invasion Day’.

Invasion Day marches are now attended by thousands of people across the country.

Woolworths and Aldi decided earlier this year not to stock Australia Day merchandise, sparking a huge backlash from customers.

Many councils have also stopped holding traditional citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.

Cricket Australia and Tennis Australia will no longer mark the day during their major sporting events held in January.

Some universities and governments give their staff the opportunity to take another day off instead of January 26.

Indigenous leader Warren Mundine used colorful language to blast the sites that no longer celebrate Australia Day

Despite calls to change the national day to something ‘more inclusive’, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out.

The Labor government has set aside $10 million in the budget for the Australia Day Events 2025 national grant program.

The Government has also committed to providing an additional $1.5 million a year in funding for the National Australia Day Council’s activities between 2024 and 2025.

A Roy Morgan Research survey conducted earlier this year found that 59 percent of people said Australia Day should continue to be celebrated on January 26.