‘Sick of it’: Penny drops on Australia Day as Woolworths reveals plans

Major brands are realising Aussies simply “had enough” and refuse to be told what to do over Australia Day celebrations, an Australian media commentator says.

Woolworths spectacularly backtracked on its decision to stop selling merchandise in 2024, after outrage from the broader community and political spectrum.

The major supermarket initially explained the changes last year were a result of “declining sales”.

In a statement on Wednesday, the company confirmed Woolworths and Big W stores will have a “Perfect for Australia Day” section, primarily focusing on food in 2025.

Australian flags — the only Australia Day item available in store — will also be available from the general merchandise section

But customers will have to head online to buy Australian flag branded items from Woolworths’ marketplace sellers My Deal, BIG W Market and Everyday Market.

But media commentator Prue MacSween said the decision didn’t surprise her.

Speaking to NewsWire, she said Australians were “sick of it” when it come to companies trying to tell them how to live their lives.

“What I want to know is when did corporations, banks, people like Woolworths and pubs decide they’re the authority and could dictate to rest of us how we should think and feel,” Ms MacSween said.

“Everyone is sick of it.

“We’re fed up to the back teeth with either accused of being racist, guilty of something, greedy, heartless and we aren’t.

“We’ve had this very vocal minority, I consider, of elites and politicians who have decided opinion us on our decisions to tell us that we’re wrong and they have the right to tell us how we should feel, and think and act.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud said Woolworths has “learned the hard way” that Australians “don’t like being told what to do” by a major corporation.

“They’ve learned that they don’t set the moral compass of this country,” he told Sky News on Wednesday.

“We are proud of this country. We are proud of what we’ve achieved.

“We’re prepared and mature enough to face up to the mistakes we’ve made in the past. But we can’t change history.

“You can’t change where our country came from and what happened over those 220 plus years.”

In their statement, Woolworths said they would be celebrating Australia Day “as a team” and with customers.

A spokesperson told news.com.au the company had “listened and recognised” customers wanted the company to do more to help them celebrate the holiday.

“Customers can expect to see ‘Perfect for Australia Day’ sections in our Supermarkets and BIG W in the lead up to the day,” the spokesperson said.

“We also now have Aussie-made flags available for sale in our stores – both Supermarkets and BIG W – while our online marketplaces have a range of Aussie themed merchandise for customers to choose from.”

Woolworths hasn’t been the only company to face backlash over its stance on Australia Day.

Australian Venue Co (AVC), which operates more than 200 pubs across the country, also faced public backlash after it reportedly notified venue managers it would not celebrate Australia Day on January 26 because the day caused “hurt” and “sadness for some members of our community”.

The AVC later reversed its messaging, acknowledging its comments caused “both concern and confusion”.

Ms MacSween said people have simply “had enough” of listening to major corporations as they have other priorities they need to focus on, like cost of living pressures.

“I think that now that everybody is really hurting, I don’t care how much money you earn or what position in life you have, you have to think before you spend a dime,” she said.

Ms MacSween claimed everyday Australians would have to battle with their social consciousness and their hip pocket because of “woke” Labor government policies “impact(ing) everything we do”.

“They (Labor) have no idea what they’ve done to Australia,” she said.

“This is all adding to our angst and the fact we resent companies like Woolworths, companies like Wesfarmers, all of them telling us that we’re imbeciles, morons and selfish bastards.

“It’s a matter of priorities.”