ABORIGINAL WOMEN ALLEGE RACISM AFTER BEING DENIED SERVICE AT NEWMAN PUB

Red Sands Tavern in Newman. Credit: Google Maps Streetview.

In the Pilbara, three Aboriginal women have said they were racially discriminated against when they were denied service and then ejected from a Newman pub last month.

Staff at the Red Sands Tavern allegedly told one of the women she could not be served as she smelled of body odour.

The Red Sands was busy on April 13 because takeaway alcohol restrictions were in place in Newman that day.

The women told Ngaarda Media most patrons in the pub were workers who had just come off shift and were still in their mining uniforms.

The two Martu women and one Yamatji woman said they had spent an hour and a half eating, drinking and playing pool at the pub before the incident.

When one of the Martu women approached the bar to buy more drinks, she allegedly was told by a staff member she could not be served because other patrons had complained about her body odour.

“They said, ‘A lot of people complained about the hygiene smell,’” she said.

“And I smelled myself, and I said, ‘What smell? What smell?’”

The Martu woman said she returned to her friends and the Yamatji woman tried to buy the drinks but was told she would not be served either.

The Yamatji woman told Ngaarda Media all three women felt humiliated to then be asked to leave.

She said she told staff: “‘Ok, we don't want to be here, because we're being treated very badly in our hometown where we grew up.'

“I said, 'Let's go.'"

She said that although they had been drinking, none of the women were intoxicated.

After being escorted from the venue by staff, the women went to the nearby Purple Pub, where they were served.

In a statement to Ngaarda Media, Red Sands manager Philip Meagher defended his staff’s decision to remove the women from the venue based on customer complaints.

He said a non-Indigenous patron would be treated the same way if there were similar complaints.

Mr Meagher said he would happily meet with the women to discuss how similar situations could be dealt with differently in the future.

“I respect very much our beautiful Martu community and have enjoyed a very happy relationship with them and others over the many years we have supported them,” he said.

The Yamatji woman said this was not an isolated incident.

“The Newman Red Sands, they always do that to our local Martu people,” she said.

“They are very rude and inconsiderate, and that’s why a lot of people don’t go there.”