Home » “Listen And Chart A Path Forward”: Intrepid Travel’s Leigh Barnes On How Brands Can Successfully Navigate The Australia Day Debate

25 January, 2024

“Listen And Chart A Path Forward”: Intrepid Travel’s Leigh Barnes On How Brands Can Successfully Navigate The Australia Day Debate

The Australian flag and Australian Aboriginal flag fly side-by-side at Bondi Beach, Sydney in early summer. This image was taken on a windy day in the late afternoon.

By Aimee Edwards

Intrepid Travel has been developing its reconciliation plan since 2018 to recognise and honour First Nations people in all that they do. In the wake of much contention surrounding the Australia Day public holiday, Intrepid Travel’s chief customer officer, Leigh Barnes, sat down with B&T to discuss how brands can successfully navigate the topic.

For Intrepid their reconciliation plan centres around simply celebrating, engaging and reconciling with our First Nations people and highlighting First Nations products and experiences in their trips. There is also a strong focus on engaging with First Nations partners and making informed decisions surrounding how the company works with First Nations partners.

“We believe it’s really important to give our people a choice, and we want to support our First Nations partners as best we can. It’s really about making sure that, as a company, we stand for something supporting those who are out there without the same level of voices in mainstream media. It is about being able to make a positive change,” said Barnes.

“One of the big changes has been around the feedback from our First Nations people and partners was that January 26th wasn’t the date celebrate, and we’ve given our staff now for the last four years, the option to work or not work”.

According to Barnes, the decision to take a political stand on these kinds of social debates really comes down to the type of brand you are and what you stand for. Certain businesses have a real stake in the game and are obligated to have an opinion; others just do it to score points within the public opinion.

“I think realistically, if it’s something that is impacting your people and your business, you should be speaking. But also, if you’ve done the work around it, with that comes an obligation that you do need to speak out,” said Barnes.

“If it’s in their wheelhouse, then 100%, they have an obligation to have an opinion; if you haven’t done the work, and you are just doing it to get on the agenda or score some points, you probably don’t have a place”.

If a brand is going to pick a side, the most important thing you can do is build a plan that ensures you are meeting the political stance in all aspects of your business, not just jumping on board a side when it is newsworthy. “My advice to brands is to build a Reconciliation Action Plan. Start with the consultation process, where you get to have yarns with First Nations people. Listening and learning is the most powerful part. The same applies to any cause. You want to engage with your stakeholders, your partners, and your people – listen and chart a path forward,” Barnes said.

When asked if it is worth the risk for brands to pick a side on political issues, Barnes pointed out that businesses pick sides daily in colours, messaging, and what they write; it’s unavoidable. Unfortunately, the issue is that brands tend to bandwagon hop, jumping on either side and not doing the work to ensure it is done in the best way possible. “Where I think brands and businesses get caught up in damage is where it doesn’t play a role for their business, where they’re doing it just to get used to a new stake, and it doesn’t have an impact on its people, it doesn’t have an impact on its product doesn’t have an impact on its brand. It is really just making some noise”.

The holiday 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.

Woolworths‘ plan to remove Australia Day merchandise off its shelves has resulted in several conservative politicians calling for a boycott. Several Queensland stores were also recently vandalised off the back of the decision. “Aussie Oi Oi Oi Woolies F*** U” was written in spray paint across the front of the Woolworth Tenerife store last week, and a flare was placed at the entrance, triggering the fire alarms. Last week, Aldi and Kmart announced that they would also be joining Woolworths in not stocking Australia Day merchandise in the lead-up to January 26.

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Australia Day Intrepid Travel Reconciliation Action Plan