59-575: The Royal Oak Hotel is a pub located in Balmain , a suburb in the inner west region of Sydney , in the state of New South Wales , Australia. The pub has historical links with the union movement and is one of a number of buildings which formed an integral part of the shipbuilding and industrial history of the local area. The land on which the pub currently stands was part of a much larger 220-hectare (550-acre) grant to colonial surgeon Dr William Balmain made in 1800 by Governor John Hunter . The hotel
118-540: A "separately defined area" (NSW), and while some smaller retailers like Aldi sell alcohol in the same store, Coles and Woolworths supermarkets do not. Specialist liquor stores account for most of the alcohol sold in Australia. In most large cities and towns there were also a number of designated "early openers", pubs that were specially licensed to open in the early morning and close mid-afternoon. These early openers primarily catered for shift workers who had just finished
177-463: A 9pm-6am night shift. Another Australian pub tradition, which some considered almost as undesirable as the six o'clock swill, was the pub crawl . In many inner city and suburban areas, it was common to find numerous pubs located within a short distance of each other. It became a regular tradition, especially on weekends and public holidays, for groups of drinkers to undertake marathon drinking sessions that moved from pub to pub. Pub crawls would begin in
236-496: A climate in which many pubs – especially those located near dockyards and other industrial sites – gained a reputation for being violent, dangerous and generally unsavoury places. Australians were among the highest per capita alcohol consumers in the world, and the combination of large amounts of alcohol, an all-male clientele and aggravating factors like the six o'clock swill regularly led to violent clashes between inebriated patrons. The relationship between pubs and crime in Australia
295-720: A height of 228 metres (748 ft) with 67 storeys, and remains one of his most definitive works. The building was awarded the Sir John Sulman Medal by the Australian Institute of Architects . The contractor was Civil & Civic . It was officially opened by the Governor-General , Sir Zelman Cowen , in September 1978. The building is a stark white, modernist column in an octagonal floorplan, with eight massive load-bearing columns in
354-639: A lesser extent, Melbourne Bitter in bottles and cans; as Victoria Bitter became a prominent national brand on tap, in turn it became considerably more common on tap in Victoria. In the late 20th century these beer empires began to expand overseas, before being themselves merged into consolidated global producers; brands under the Australasian CUB and Lion-Nathan subsidiaries of major global beverage empires have considerable presence in Australasia,
413-466: A major venue for the collection of bets and the distribution of winnings. One Australian author has noted that SP bookmaking had become so widespread by the early 20th century that constituted "a virtual national act of civil disobedience". One of the betting games most closely associated with the Aussie pub was the coin game two-up , which was extremely popular during the 19th and earlier 20th century. It
472-483: A national institution that is now generally ignored by police. Slot machines, known locally as " pokies ", remain an important source of custom and revenue, although restrictive state-level licensing means that only a minority of pubs can operate them. In 2002, over half of the $ 4 billion in gambling revenue collected by state governments came from pubs and clubs. In the 1970s and 1980s, pubs played an important role as venues for live rock music in Australia. Reflecting
531-471: A nexus for all kinds of immoral activity, including illegal " SP betting ", and the Temperance movement lobbied long and hard to have public houses tightly regulated and their opening hours severely restricted. In this area, the " wowsers " (as they were dubbed) were very successful but these high moral concerns backfired, at least in terms of liquor licensing, and the new laws led to the evolution of what
590-448: A result, early tours by many visiting overseas acts from overseas who were becoming popular in Australia included many performances at major city and regional pubs; this included the first Australian tours by bands like XTC , The Cure and Simple Minds ; such bands were often "broken" locally thanks to airplay on the ABC's new non-commercial 24-hour rock radio station Triple J , which played
649-462: A significant wine-making industry until the 20th century and while the wine industry grew steadily, wine did not become a major consumer drink until the late 20th century. Therefore, for the period between 1800 and 1950, alcohol production and consumption in Australia was dominated by beer and spirits, with Australian pubs becoming synonymous with ice-cold pilsener beer. Liquor licensing policies in early colonial Australia were relatively liberal, but in
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#1732791097283708-640: A simple awning. The current façade , which is in Victorian Free Classical style, dates from 1886. It is one of the few hotels in the local area that never possessed a verandah, with the current awning only having been added in recent years. During the 1960s and 1970s, a side door in College Street still led to the ladies parlour. Australian pub An Australian pub or hotel is a public house in Australia, an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on
767-406: A varied audience, and many groups generated fiercely loyal local followings thanks to pub residencies. The live proficiency of Australian 'pub-rock' bands of this period is widely attributed to their experiences playing in the rough-and-ready atmosphere of the pub circuit. Unlike the frenzied but generally upbeat atmosphere typical of Sixties pop shows, pub gigs could be a testing experience for even
826-1156: A wide variety of music by the best established and emerging acts; venues of this period include the General Bourke Hotel in Adelaide, the Railway Hotel in Richmond, Victoria, and in Sydney, the Annandale Hotel, the Family Inn in Rydalmere , the Hopetoun Hotel in Surry Hills and the Sandringham Hotel in Newtown . By the end of the 1970s the pub circuit was a major provider of rock music entertainment in Australia and as
885-511: A wide variety of new music not heard on commercial pop-rock stations, and many international rock acts of the 1980s gained live exposure on the Australian pub circuit before gaining wider acceptance. Pub rock flourished in the 1980s, and this period is now regarded with a degree of nostalgia, and it has come to be considered something of a "golden age" for Australian post-punk rock music. A number of social and economic trends combined to reduce
944-412: Is descended from the northern European tradition, which favoured grain-derived beverages like beer and spirits, whereas in southern European countries like Italy and Greece wine was the drink of choice. Beer was for many years the largest-selling form of alcoholic drink in Australia, and Australia has long had one of the highest per capita rates of beer consumption in the world. Australia did not develop
1003-414: Is most often associated with the celebration of Anzac Day on 25 April each year. In the years after World War I, it became traditional that, after the early morning commemorative service and march, ex-servicemen would gather at local pubs to drink, reminisce and play two-up. Although still technically illegal, Anzac Day two-up games are now openly played in streets and laneways outside pubs and it has become
1062-704: The GPT Group , in March 2019. The MLC Centre was also Australia's tallest building for nine years until losing the title to the Rialto Towers in Melbourne in 1986. Occupants include the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Sydney (TECO), Cognizant , Servcorp , and former Prime Minister of Australia , John Howard . The podium of the building includes a shopping centre and a 1,186-seat theatre,
1121-528: The Prohibition lobby in Australia had to lobby each individual state government, and was unable to achieve any nationwide ban on the sale of alcohol. Although liquor sales remained heavily restricted for many years, Australia did not experience the many social ills, including the vast expansion of organised crime that resulted from Prohibition in the United States in the 1920s. Perhaps because of
1180-500: The 1970s as virtual "supermarkets" for cannabis, amphetamines, heroin and other drugs. Gaming and betting is another major part of Australian pub culture. Legal gambling is a relatively new phenomenon in Australia, but illegal gaming has always been part of pub culture. Because legal betting on horse and dog races was for many years restricted to racetracks, and no off-track betting was permitted, illegal betting (usually known as "starting price" or SP bookmaking ) proliferated. Pubs became
1239-471: The 19th century the local version evolved a number of distinctive features that set it apart from the classic British or urban Irish pub. In many cases, pubs were the first structures built in newly colonised areas, especially on the goldfields, and new towns often grew up around them. Pubs typically served multiple functions, simultaneously serving as hostelry , post office, restaurant, meeting place and sometimes even general store . Pubs proliferated during
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#17327910972831298-658: The 19th century, especially during the gold rush that began in the 1850s, and many fine examples were built in the state capitals and major regional cities and towns. Some of the best colonial-era pubs in Australia's major cities have fallen victim to urban re-development, which has destroyed a significant portion of Australia's 19th-century architectural heritage. State capitals like Melbourne and Adelaide , and large regional cities and towns such as Kalgoorlie in Western Australia still boast some examples, and many other 19th-century pubs survive in country towns. Among
1357-425: The 20th century but it quickly disappeared after the 1960s, when changes to the licensing laws in most states allowed pubs to stay open until 10 pm. Another factor that reinforced the nexus between pubs and problem drinking was the fact that, until the late 20th century in most parts of Australia, alcohol could usually only be purchased over the counter at the pub, and the types and amount of alcohol that could be sold
1416-575: The Theatre Royal. The building underwent a $ 100m repair project which installed hybrid corrosion protection to the facade. The project retained the original appearance of the structure but remedied damage to exposed aggregate precast concrete facade panels caused by expansive corrosion of steel reinforcement. In June 2021, it was rebranded from the MLC Centre to 25 Martin Place. The building
1475-450: The UK, Europe and many other regions. Each Australian state has its own set of liquor licensing laws which regulate the times that pubs could open and close. Until recently these laws were relatively strict, a legacy of the influence of the 'reformist' Christian Temperance groups in the late 19th and early 20th century. The concerns of these groups were in some areas well-founded. Alcohol abuse
1534-462: The age of its fans, in the preceding decades, pop and rock music performances were typically "all ages" events. Smaller concerts were often held in public venues like community, church, school or local council halls, and larger performances (like tours by visiting international acts) were staged in major concert halls or sports stadiums. Some concerts were staged in licensed premises, but the vast majority were in public venues open to all ages, and alcohol
1593-630: The brewing industry was dominated by a handful of large and powerful state-based companies: Tooth's and Toohey's in Sydney, Carlton United in Melbourne, Castlemaine in Brisbane, West End and Coopers in Adelaide and Swan in Perth. These brands effectively became unofficial mascots for their respective states. In Victoria, until the late 1990s, a distinction was largely observed of serving the similar CUB lagers Carlton Draught on tap and Victoria Bitter and, to
1652-472: The building simply by its street address of 25 Martin Place . The building's construction was controversial, since it brought about the demolition in 1971-2 of the famous 19th century Australia Hotel , the Theatre Royal , and the splendid Commercial Travellers Club building on the corner of Martin Place , all of which formerly stood on the site. Designed by architect Harry Seidler , it stands at
1711-852: The colonial-era hotels, now lost to development, were the Bellevue Hotel in Brisbane (demolished in 1979) and two of Sydney's pub-hotels – the Hotel Australia, which formerly stood on the corner of Castlereagh St and Martin Place (demolished c. 1970 to make way for the MLC Centre ) and the Tattersall's Hotel in Pitt St. Its marble bar was dismantled and reinstalled in a basement under the Sydney Hilton Hotel , which
1770-401: The consumption of alcohol, all forms of gambling and animal racing, prostitution and recreational (non-alcohol) drug use. Temperance advocates feared – with some justification – that workers would spend all their time and money in the pub if they were permitted to stay there throughout the evening, and that children and families would suffer as a result (which they often did ). Pubs were seen as
1829-609: The corners that taper slightly towards the top. It is one of the world's tallest reinforced concrete buildings and was one of the tallest buildings in the world outside North America at the time of its completion. The MLC Centre was Sydney's tallest office building from 1977 to 1992. The MLC Centre is wholly owned by Dexus , which acquired a half-stake in the property from the Queensland Investment Corporation in June 2017 and bought out its former co-owner,
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1888-499: The fact that these buildings – which were often only two or three stories high – were relatively easy and cheap to buy up and redevelop. MLC Centre 25 Martin Place (formerly and still commonly known as the MLC Centre ) is a skyscraper in Sydney , Australia . Originally named the "MLC Centre" after MLC Limited , and still commonly referred to by that name, in 2021 the name was removed by its owner, Dexus, which now refers to
1947-433: The flourishing pub-rock circuit to a shadow of its former self. In the late 1980s Australian state governments began relaxing the laws governing legalised gambling. One of the most significant changes was the controversial decision to allow the placement of poker machines in pubs. Poker machines quickly delivered huge financial returns to pub licensees and it soon became much easier and more profitable for licensees to close
2006-478: The generally hot, dry climate, Australian beer drinkers soon came to favour chilled pilsener style beers. This trend was reinforced with the expansion and consolidation of the Australian brewing industry, and by the development of hop growing, especially in Tasmania . The dominance of chilled pilsener beer was further reinforced by the invention of refrigeration . Australia was one of the first countries to adopt
2065-521: The high volume of alcohol sales that resulted made them very attractive to pub licensees. State capitals like Melbourne and Sydney had dozens of pubs in inner-city and suburban areas, and many of these had large function rooms or large public bars; from the early 1970s pubs became one of the most important outlets for Australian rock music. Many significant Australian groups of the 1970s and 1980s – including AC/DC , Cold Chisel , Midnight Oil , The Choirboys and INXS – spent their formative years playing on
2124-457: The hour before the pub closed. This practice came to be known as the " six o'clock swill ". It fostered an endemic culture of daily binge drinking , which in turn created persistent problems of alcohol-related violence – drunken patrons regularly got into alcohol-fuelled fights in and around the pub, and many husbands arrived home in the early evening extremely drunk, with negative consequences. This destructive 'tradition' persisted through most of
2183-462: The larger and more successful firms began to take over smaller breweries, although they often retained the older brand names and the loyal clientele of those brands, such as Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) continuing to distribute "Tooth's KB Lager " and " Resch's Pilsener" and "DA" ("Dinner Ale") after they had bought and eventually closed the Reschs and Tooths breweries. By the mid-20th century
2242-408: The late 19th century and new modes of transport came into operation. By the 20th century the major brewing firms had become very large vertically integrated businesses. They owned the breweries and ran truck fleets and distribution networks, and the major brewers owned chains of pubs across the country. The premises were typically operated on a leasehold basis by licensed publicans. As they grew,
2301-534: The late 19th century there was growing pressure from conservative Christian groups, known as the Temperance Leagues, to restrict the sale of alcohol. In 1916 after drunken soldiers rioted in Sydney new licensing laws restricted alcohol in all Australian states, in most cases banning sales after 6 pm. The new legislation also forced publicans seeking a spirits licence to also obtain a beer licence and to provide accommodation. The licensing laws restricted
2360-488: The late afternoon or early evening, then progress to each of the neighbouring pubs in turn. Although it still continues in some areas, the worst excesses of the pub crawl tradition have largely disappeared thanks to the enforcement of responsible service of alcohol (RSA) laws. These laws have made it illegal to serve drunk patrons and both premises and server are liable to severe fines for supplying alcohol to people who are intoxicated. These regulations and conventions created
2419-443: The licensing laws enabled pubs to begin presenting regular concerts by rock groups in the early 1970s. Such "pub gigs" were often presented free-of-charge, with the cost recouped from alcohol sales, although it became more common for licensees and/or promoters to charge an entry fee, especially for the more popular groups whose fees were higher. The relatively low cost of staging pub gigs, the large numbers of patrons they attracted and
Royal Oak Hotel - Misplaced Pages Continue
2478-468: The most accomplished band. Often as not, a significant proportion of the audience were in varying states of intoxication, and groups who did not provide the kind of performance that was required by the audience would be mercilessly heckled by dissatisfied crowds. By the late 1970s a significant number of capital-city and regional pubs were presenting rock music on a regular basis, forming a loose but lucrative circuit of venues for bands all over Australia, and
2537-817: The most popular venues offered music every night of the week. Certain groups became closely associated with formative residencies at particular pubs – a prime example was the long-running residency by Midnight Oil at the Royal Antler Hotel in Narrabeen , on Sydney's northern beaches in the late 1970s. Some pubs became associated with particular styles – in the early 1980s, the Civic Hotel in Sydney's CBD provided important support for many emerging local " new wave " acts including Mental As Anything , The Choirboys , The Numbers, Sunnyboys , INXS and Matt Finish . Other pub-rock venues became renowned for offering
2596-570: The new technology on a wide scale and pubs were among the first local businesses to use refrigeration, to keep beer ice-cold. Another notable feature of Australian beer is its relatively high alcohol content, which for many years has typically ranged between 4 percent and 6 percent alcohol – somewhat higher than their British and American counterparts. Beer production in Australia began with small private breweries supplying local pubs. The industry rapidly became both larger in scale and more centralised as brewers adopted mass-production techniques during
2655-577: The premises. They may also provide other services, such as entertainment, meals and basic accommodation. The Australian pub is a direct descendant of the British and Irish pub. The production and consumption of alcoholic drinks has long played a key role in Western commerce and social activity, and this is reflected in the importance of pubs in the British colonisation of Australia after 1788. However, in
2714-465: The pub circuit. Another significant feature of the pub gig was that it gave rock groups in the so-called "Second Wave" of Australian rock the chance to develop their performance and repertoire. Pubs like the renowned Station Hotel in Prahran , Melbourne, offered extended residencies to popular or up-and-coming rock bands, enabling them to hone their playing 'chops' and refine their material in front of
2773-491: The rooms formerly used for music shows and refurbish them as poker machine parlours. Another related trend that severely affected the pub circuit was the property boom in Australian capital cities in the 1980s. In cities like Sydney, which once boasted dozens of pubs in the central business district alone, rising prices and increased demand for CBD and inner-city properties saw many pubs closed and demolished. Their strategic location made them prime targets for redevelopment, as did
2832-831: The sale and service of alcohol almost exclusively to pubs for decades. Alcohol could usually be purchased only in pubs, and many states placed restrictions on the number of bottles per customer that could be sold over the counter. It was not until the late 20th century that "bottle-shops" and chain-store outlets (where liquor was sold but not served) became common and restaurants and cafes were more widely licensed to serve liquor or to allow customers to "bring their own". Opening hours were generally heavily restricted, and pubs were usually open only from 10 am to 6 pm, Monday to Saturday. Some pubs were granted special licences to open and close earlier – e.g. opening at 6 am and closing at 3 pm – in areas where there were large numbers of people working night shifts. Pubs were invariably closed on Sundays, until
2891-639: The various state Sunday Observance Acts were repealed during the 1950s and early 1960s. These restrictions created a small but lucrative black market in illegal alcohol, leading to the proliferation of illegal alcohol outlets in many urban areas; the so-called "sly grog shop". After the Federation of Australia in 1901, Australia's new constitution ruled that the Commonwealth of Australia had no power to legislate in this area, so each state enacted and enforced its own liquor licensing regulations. This meant
2950-437: Was a new phenomenon in Australian 20th century pub culture. From the advent of the eight-hour day until the late 1970s, most Australian blue-collar workers were tied to a 9am-5pm, Monday-to-Friday work schedule. Because most pubs were only permitted to stay open until 6 pm, workers would commonly head for the nearest pub as soon as they finished work at 5 pm, where they would drink as much as possible, as quickly as possible, in
3009-442: Was also restricted. The pub-based bottle shop "bottle-o", usually one of the smaller bars converted into a sales area for bottled and canned drinks, is now commonplace in Australian pubs, but these only began to appear in the 1960s. These were followed by specialist "sales-only" retail outlet chains where alcohol is not served on the premises. Legal restrictions vary by state, but generally continue to mandate that alcohol be sold in
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#17327910972833068-405: Was an endemic social problem in most western countries and, as the local brewing and distilling industry expanded, it quickly became a serious problem in Australia. However, the Temperance movements were driven by a dogmatic Christian world view, and the aim of the larger "Christian Morality" movement at this time was to outlaw any social behaviour which went against Christian teaching – this included
3127-531: Was built on the site of the Tattersall's Hotel in the early 1970s. The development that solidified the characteristic style of the modern Australian pub was the introduction of the American-style bar counter in the early nineteenth century. Customers began to sit apart from the publicans, the atmosphere became commercial rather than home-like and the pub became a distinctly public, Australian male-dominated establishment. Australia's beer-drinking culture
3186-424: Was established early, and some inner-city and suburban pubs were frequented by criminals, who met there to recruit accomplices and plan "jobs". Criminals also regularly used particular pubs as "shop fronts" from which to sell the proceeds of their crimes on the black market. Late in the 20th century, this dubious tradition came to include drug dealing, and every major Australian city has pubs which became notorious from
3245-476: Was established in 1878 as Hollis's Hotel under publican George Hollis. In 1884, J. W. Clifford became publican, renamed it to the Clifford Family Hotel and refitted the hotel in 1886. A further change of ownership took place again in 1888 when William Coates renamed the pub Coates Family Hotel. Thomas Hunt gave the pub its current name after taking over in 1898. By the mid-1860s, nearby Mort's Dock
3304-680: Was formed and the mailing address was given as Clifford's Hotel. The union later became known as the Balmain Labourers Union and in 1900 at the Royal Oak Hotel, changed its name to the Painters and Dockers Union . The Royal Oak Hotel is listed on the Inner West Council local government heritage register. It is a two-storey rendered brick corner building with decorative parapet, label moulds to windows and
3363-406: Was the headquarters of the fictitious "Harper Mining" company in the opulent 1980's television soap opera Return to Eden . The building was the centre of the storyline in the first episode of the Australian television drama, Police Rescue , airing in 1991. Sergeant Steve "Mickey" McClintock ( Gary Sweet ) is seen abseiling off the top of the building in the first half of the episode to persuade
3422-479: Was unavailable. By the late 1960s, Australia's "baby boomer" pop audience was ageing into its late teens and early twenties. This demographic trend coincided with the gradual relaxation of states' restrictive licensing laws – the legal drinking age was generally lowered to 18 (in line with changes to the voting age) and the opening hours of pubs were finally allowed to be extended to 10pm. Rock concerts were attracting younger audiences in large numbers, and changes in
3481-511: Was undertaking heavy industrialisation of its site in Balmain and was a generator of much housing and employment in the local area. It was from this enterprise, which continued until 1957 that the pub owes much of its early history through the provision of refreshment for dock workers. The main gate for the dock was located only a short distance away at the end of Cameron Street. In 1887 the Balmain branch of The Slip, Dock and General Labourers Union
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