A young couple from Adelaide claim they were denied entry to their local pub because of the colour of their skin.
Aboriginal couple Peter Miller Koncz and his wife Kahlia went to the Palais Hotel in Semaphore, only to be turned away by security at the door who allegedly said the manager had said “not to let Aboriginals in tonight”.
Apparently there had been a large fight involving Aboriginal people at the venue a week before. Mr Koncz spoke to The Advertiser about the alleged incident:
“My heart dropped and I was in shock after we left,” he said. “My wife and kids often go there to have lunch and we were even considering having our wedding there a few years ago, that’s how much we go to the place.”
The father-of-three spoke to management but said: “The manager was so rude. He denied what the security had said then told us to leave, otherwise we’d be removed from the premises.”
The owner of the Palais, Steve Karpluk, denied there was any directive from management to deny people entry based on their race.
“We are looking into these allegations and we can assure you we take them very seriously,” Mr Karpluk said in a statement.
“We would like to state that as a business and family-owned hotel we categorically deny any allegations of racism and there has never been or will there be a directive from management to refuse any patron entry due to race.”
Mr Koncz has been advised to take the complaint to the Equal Opportunity Commissioner.
“A precedent has been set concerning this kind of behaviour with equal opportunities taken against a hotel in Ceduna and I would be recommending the hotel association conduct cultural awareness training for all staff and security so this kind of behaviour doesn’t happen in the future,” he told The Advertiser.
“We can’t be treated as second-class citizens in our own country.”
