A Perth pub has cancelled a private political seminar being held by a nationalist group after staff members took offence to their organisation’s name projected onto a screen.
The Western Australian chapter of White Australia, which is in the process of registering as a political party, gathered at The Stirling Arms Hotel in Guildford in the city’s east on Saturday night after booking a function room where no staff were supposed to be present.
But halfway through the seminar, attended by about 70 members of the political organisation and their supporters, the group were told they had to leave after they finished dinner as some employees were upset by seeing the phrase “White Australia” through the function room door.
The group wrote on their Telegram channel that they finished the event at the nearby Anzac Memorial, and that “all of our supporters and members were in good spirits and found the whole situation funny and honestly quite ridiculous”.
“It was a good introduction to our world and showed them the kind of persecution and discrimination that we face on a daily basis, simply for being proud White Australians,” the statement said.
“It makes you think, had the event been full of aboriginals or Indians advocating for “Aboriginal Australia” or “Indian Australia” would they receive the same treatment?
“Overall, It was quite symbolic to conclude the night at a memorial dedicated to the men who fought and died for White Australia.”
The pub, which is named after WA’s first Governor Sir James Stirling, also made a statement about the incident on social media on Sunday, saying “the event and the group do not represent the values of The Stirling Arms”.
“Unfortunately an event was booked at the venue tonight for a political group that the venue does not align with, nor did we have prior knowledge of what they were representing,” the venue, which regularly hosts “drag diva bingo” events, said.
“We are a community based pub that welcomes all. We are truly sorry for any hurt or offence this may have caused.”
Noticer News understands the nationalist group were originally told they could finish the seminar as long as they stopped showing their name and logo on the projector screen, but were then asked to leave after dinner and no refund was given, a decision they are challenging.
White Australia’s Hagen Palme told the seminar crowd that he thought there was an understanding with the venue owners that the event would be political and private.
“They are happy to take out money, but not happy to work with us in that regard. So you know, that’s the way it is in this country, White Australians are not allowed to unify and express their political views, even though this is a White country,” he said.
“White Australia is what this was founded as, and if you don’t like that, you’re un-Australian, plain and simple.
“I mean, that’s the way it goes, we’re very peaceful, we’re very accommodating, we don’t try and antagonise, we’re very friendly, that was never reciprocated towards us, so it is what it is, we keep on going despite the pressures. To the supporters, welcome to our world.”
The cancellation comes after the NSW Chapter of White Australia were refused permission to host a seminar at Parramatta Town Hall, with council citing its far-left policies on “diversity”, “inclusion”, and “social justice”.
They also had the business name White Australia Pty Ltd rejected by the Australia Securities & Investments Commission on the basis that the word “White” is a “blacklisted word/phrase”.
Header image: Left, Hagen Palme speaking at the seminar. Right, the name and logo that upset staff (Telegram).
