‘I will cop the hate’: Burger restaurant apologises for ‘racist’ Facebook post about Australia Day

'To the entire Indigenous community that has been offended… please take this as my sincerest apologies,' said owner Chris O'Shea

(Getty Images)

The owner of a burger restaurant in Sydney, Australia, has apologised after his social media team wrote a Facebook post mocking people who rally against Australia Day, instead referring to it as Invasion Day.

Australia Day commemorates the landing of the first Europeans on the continent in 1788, but many indigenous people call Australia Day “Invasion Day” and view it as a representation of the colonisation of their land.

On Wednesday 27 January, the day after Australia Day, the burger restaurant Downtown Brooklyn Penrith shared a post on Facebook stating: “364 more sleeps till we have to listen to the Invasion Day bandwagoners again!”

The post prompted a fierce backlash, with many people describing it as “racist” in the comments section.

Initially, the restaurant defended the post, and responded to one critic: “Here we are just pointing out the fact that influencers jump on to any current trending issues for the clout and likes, then forget about you all for the rest of the year. Ya’ll getting mad for that? OK.”

However, as critcisms grew, owner Chris O’Shea retracted his comments and deleted the post, admitting it had “pushed the boundaries a bit too far”.

“To the entire Indigenous community that has been offended… please take this as my sincerest apologies as to how the post was construed,” he said in a post shared on Tuesday.

“I will cop the hate, cop the flack, and cop the damages that will still continue as most will say this is back pedalling. This was never meant to be a hateful or racist post.”

Mr O’Shea continued: “The damage is done, there is no coming back from this and as the owner I have accepted this."

He added that he had spoken to many people privately about their concerns with the post.

“I have personally spoken to many of you through our inbox explaining the above and have apologised in regards to anything taken the wrong way or being insensitive with the comments made by our socials.”

Mr O’Shea added that the restaurant’s social media team were trying to make a playful point about social media influencers.

“The point #3 was made in regards to social influencers and how they love to jump on bandwagons," he explained. 

"They use these days to support an issue for the likes or clout, then move on to the next one, forgetting about the true cause.

“Unfortunately somewhere along the line, this has been misconstrued as being racist, and it has taken off from there. The post was never meant to be racist in any way shape or form." 

On 26 January 2021, Australia Day protests occurred across the country as thousands took to the streets despite Covid health concerns to march against the national holiday.