Locals confused as Australian Venue Co-owned Cobblers Falcon in Mandurah flies Chinese flag on Australia Day

Confused locals woke on Australia Day to find popular Mandurah pub Cobblers Falcon flying the flag of the Chinese Communist Party. Cobblers is one of the Hong Kong-owned Australian Venue Co’s 200 pubs including The Peninsula down the road, and BrewDog, The Aviary and The Court in Perth. AVC made headlines earlier this year for “banning” Australia Day celebrations at its venues. Just days ago, opposition leader Peter Dutton urged members of the public to complain to the business about the decision. He claimed AVC profited from the public holiday while not honouring the wishes of the majority of Australians. AVC venues have been peppered with zero and one-star reviews online in recent months. “AVOID THIS PUB. THEY DONT CELEBRATE AUSTRALIA DAY. TAKE YOUR MONEY TO ANOTHER PUB THAT WILL ENJOY THE DAY,” one review read. It’s believed the CCP flags were raised once the venue closed for the night and remained there until about 8am. “Need to take them down asap,” the venue manager wrote in a Cobblers Falcon staff group chat. “It’s all over Facebook,” an employee wrote. “Wow can’t believe someone’s climbed up to do that absolutely nuts,” another added. There was a mixed reaction to the stunt on social media with some believing the venue was responsible for raising the flags, while others saw it as a prank. “Cobblers Falcon leading with these flags over the Australian flag on Australia Day. Chinese New Year is on the 29th. Gonna lose a lot of support for this one,” a user posted. “Good way to lose clientele and they didn’t want to support Australia Day anyway but still want your money....” another replied. “Just saw them being taken down. Blind Freddy can see Cobblers was not behind this stunt. Grow up!” one woman wrote. “Everyone complaining about Chinese Flags while having houses full of Chinese Junk is Hilarious,” another joked. An Australian Venues Company spokesperson confirmed they had not hung the flags on Sunday morning. “The flags discovered this morning were hung without our permission or knowledge,” they said. “They were promptly removed by our staff.”