As un-Australian as it gets: Man claims he was kicked out of a pub he's been going to for more than 50 years because he wore an Akubra-style hat

A man claims he was refused service at his local pub unless he took off his hat

The 69-year-old says he's been going to the pub on the Central Coast since 1968

He claims staff told him they are following a directive from the local police

An elderly man has claimed he was kicked out of his local pub because he was wearing an Akubra-style hat.

The 69-year-old was at the Ocean Beach Hotel in Unima, near the New South Wales Central Coast, when he says the bar staff refused to serve him unless he took off his wide-brim hat.

The man named Graham told Ben Fordham on Sydney radio station 2GB that this is the first time in his life he's ever been kicked out of a pub. 

'I cannot walk in there with my hat, but I've been going into that pub since 1968,' he said.

He went on to claim that if he was wearing a turban, he would still be served.

Graham claimed that the next-in-charge told him that staff cannot tell patrons to remove religious headwear. 

After being asked by staff to take his hat off in order to be served, Graham responded by saying: 'You ought to be joking'.   

'The next in charge said that they'd been given a directive from the local area command that head wear is not to be worn in the pub,' he explained. 

Pub landlord Craig Laundy, who no longer runs the Ocean Beach pub, told Fordham that customers who wear hats or hoodies can obscure security camera vision.

'Police sometimes can be as bold to say "we want you to have this policy so if we have any dramas, we can actually identify who it is who has been the cause of the drama".'

However, local police told Daily Mail Australia that it's unlikely this direction would have been given to local pubs in the area.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Ocean Beach Hotel for comment

In all honesty I find this even less believable than the Scottish video.

PZ547 wrote on Jun 21^st, 2019 at 1:51pm:



I'm not debating that these people are fake, I'm debating that this happened as this old birk claimed.

PZ547 wrote on Jun 21^st, 2019 at 2:03pm:




Or you could produce fully investigated claims, rather than present one side as though its the entire story.

Prime Minister for Canyons wrote on Jun 21^st, 2019 at 2:04pm:



Or you could advise as to whether you're claiming to reside in NZ or Perth

in either case, guess you'd need to fly up to the Central Coast

and  maybe you could phone in to Hadley to let him know you're disputing the validity of the story and tell him you demand he interview the hotel in question and the local cops for their version

.
and then

Barnaby and his Akubra wearing mates should restore Aussie culture by dropping in to the pub

and film the response

Prime Minister for Canyons wrote on Jun 21^st, 2019 at 2:24pm:



And not just Barnaby

Malcolm and Howard and visiting dignitaries all promote the Aussie icon Akubras

but back to it ...

if they wore turbans or burkas would the pub even dare to think about telling them to remove their head-gear?

or the Queen in her signature hats -- would she be asked to remove?