By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier
After a backlash against Roger Corbett’s public support of the ‘No’ campaign in the marriage equality debate, Woolworths has distanced the company from the ALH chairman.
Earlier this week Corbett was a guest on ABC’s 7:30 program, where he took to voicing his opposition to same-sex marriage. He stated that the LGBTQI couples “have a perfect right to a union that is exactly equal … but let’s call marriage marriage.”
He continued to advocate for the ‘No’ campaign in the marriage equality debate, stating: “Marriage between a man and a woman and the family unit remains paramount.”
In the 24 hours following the broadcast, Woolworths received a torrent of backlash in response to Corbett’s comments, with many people taking to social media with plans to boycott the supermarket.
Woolworths released a statement in response, reaffirming their commitment to marriage equality, and that the company was “proud to embrace diversity”.
— Woolworths (@woolworths) September 19, 2017
In many responses to customer tweets, Woolworths distanced itself from Corbett, describing him as a “former employee”. Corbett has been the chairman of ALH Group, of which Woolworths owns a 75 per cent share, since April 2016.
Australian Hotelier reached out to ALH for its own statement regarding Corbett’s comments, and asked whether the pub group was now facing a similar boycott of its pubs. ALH had not responded at the time of publication.