Fresh from the United Nations stage, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese traded speeches for schooners — given the honour of “shouting” an entire New York pub a drink.
The PM on Thursday, Wednesday evening local time, appeared at Old Mates in Downtown Manhattan, which has colloquially been dubbed “New York’s Real Aussie Embassy”. Owned by icons, including Hugh Jackman, Andy Lee, Hamish Blake, and Ash Barty, the bar’s become a major hotspot among Australian expats and tourists alike.
And it turns out even the PM is a fan. He joined a cohort of visitors to the bar, including Nova radio host and co-founder of 36 Months Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli, to take part in a tradition that the whole venue gets excited about.
When an Australian VIP guest rings the iconic Bells Beach trophy bell, Old Mates shouts the bar. After jumping behind the bar, Albo gave it a clang.
In the video, Eddy Buckingham, an Aussie restaurateur known for founding and co-owning several restaurants and bars in New York City, including Chinese Tuxedo and Old Mates, introduces Albanese as a “very special” guest.
“For those of you who haven’t been here before, we’ve got a special tradition when we have a very special Australian in New York City, and we have one this evening,” Eddy said.
“I think he’s on a student visa or a working-holiday visa.
“We invite him to ring the bell … and we’ll shout the bar for two songs. It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you the guy who will be shouting the bar this evening, Anthony Albanese.”
Taking the microphone, the PM joked that he had one regret when he visited the bar “with a backpack” in the ’90s. “I didn’t get to do this,” he joked. “It’s been a really proud occasion to come here … tonight, but also really fun to be with you.
“Thank you, it’s nice to know how to have fun!” Albanese said before enthusiastically ringing the bell.
At Old Mates, the tradition is that when someone rings the bell, the bar covers the cost of a round — but the person who rang it is seen as the one “shouting the pub.” So the bell-ringer gets the glory, while the venue actually foots the bill.
Why is the PM in the US?
The PM and his team are celebrating last night’s success at the UN General Assembly High Level Week with the “36 Months Protecting Children in the Digital Age” event, which showcased Australia’s world-first law banning under-16s from creating social media accounts, driven by a grassroots initiative.
In a packed room of world leaders, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen declared her full support for the reforms, with France, Denmark, Greece and Spain among the nations eager to follow suit.
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