Australia Day celebrations banned at two Mandurah bars

Over 200 bars and pubs across Australia won't be hosting Australia Day celebrations in 2025, including two in Mandurah.

In a statement, Australian Venue Co, who is the country's second-largest hospitality group, said the day causes sadness and hurt for their patrons and staff.

""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 Australia Venues Co spokesperson said.

They own 26 venues across Perth including The Peninsula in Mandurah and Cobblers in Falcon.

Other venues include Market Grounds, The Guildford Hotel, The Court and The Aviary. 

Speaking on Sunrise on Monday morning, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Murray Watt said it is out of the government's hands.

"Our government is not one that is going to be dictating to pubs what they've got to do...we don't live in North Korea, we're not going to be having a government that tells pubs what they've got to do on particular days of the week," he said.

"We'll leave that for those businesses to decide and their patrons will make their own decisions about what they do."