In the face of thunderous backlash, Aldi has joined Woolworths in boycotting Australia Day merchandise from its stores in the lead-up to the controversial day.
While the retailer previously stocked a wide range of Australia Day-themed goods, known as the Australia Day Special Buys catalogue, it confirmed on Thursday a similar event would not go ahead this year and that themed products will not be sold in the lead-up to January 26.
Aldi has declined to comment on the ban.
The announcement comes just a few days after Woolworths and Big W confirmed they would not be selling any Australian Day merchandise in their stores, with the exception of Australian flags that are available year-round.
“There has been a gradual decline in demand for Australia Day merchandise from our stores over recent years,” Woolworths said. “We know many people like to use this day as a time to get together, and we offer a huge variety of products to help customers mark the day as they choose”.
Today, the leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, has slammed the ban from Woolworths, calling instead for a boycott of the retail giant. In a social post, Dutton accused Woolworths of “peddling woke agendas”.
Radio broadcaster Steve Price also came for Woolworths on Network Ten’s The Project. The host said the supermarket chain should “b*gger off and let us get on with Australia Day”. Not content with one controversial remark, Price continued, “I mean you would think they would have learned their lesson with The Voice campaign where 60 per cent of Australians said no to that and all these big corporates were tossing money into there and running ads”.
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January 26 has been a date of much contention for many years now, with the public holiday recognised as a day of mourning among Indigenous communities, marking the day the British colonised Australia and invaded Indigenous land.
