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| Australia's love affair with the Big Mac has been a bumpy relationship | Australia's love affair with the Big Mac has been a bumpy relationship |
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| As a tale of plucky local citizens taking on a multinational behemoth, the protests over a plan to build a McDonald's east of Melbourne has it all: furious locals, a punningly-named campaign, claims of legal intimidation and even spying. But the decision by McDonald's to challenge, and overturn, a council decision to bar it from the Victorian town of Tecoma is far from the first time the fast food giant has provoked the wrath of community activists in Australia. The Golden Arches first planted themselves in Australian soil in 1971, when McDonald's introduced itself to the Sydney suburb of Yagoona. Now, McDonald's has more than a million visits a day in Australia. Here are some of the places where the Big Macs weren't made quite so welcome. | As a tale of plucky local citizens taking on a multinational behemoth, the protests over a plan to build a McDonald's east of Melbourne has it all: furious locals, a punningly-named campaign, claims of legal intimidation and even spying. But the decision by McDonald's to challenge, and overturn, a council decision to bar it from the Victorian town of Tecoma is far from the first time the fast food giant has provoked the wrath of community activists in Australia. The Golden Arches first planted themselves in Australian soil in 1971, when McDonald's introduced itself to the Sydney suburb of Yagoona. Now, McDonald's has more than a million visits a day in Australia. Here are some of the places where the Big Macs weren't made quite so welcome. |
| Collingwood, Victoria | Collingwood, Victoria |
| The robust legal action taken by McDonald's against Tecoma protesters will resonate with Bill Landeryou, former leader of the Victorian state opposition. He was among a group of people who were the subject of a court writ alleging the "slander of goods and defamation" of McDonald's in 1986. The group distributed leaflets claiming McDonald's was trying to "make us eat like Americans and work like Americans". The literature accused the company of underpaying workers, forcing staff to smile and serving inferior burgers. | The robust legal action taken by McDonald's against Tecoma protesters will resonate with Bill Landeryou, former leader of the Victorian state opposition. He was among a group of people who were the subject of a court writ alleging the "slander of goods and defamation" of McDonald's in 1986. The group distributed leaflets claiming McDonald's was trying to "make us eat like Americans and work like Americans". The literature accused the company of underpaying workers, forcing staff to smile and serving inferior burgers. |
| Fairlight, NSW | Fairlight, NSW |
| Once a McDonald's restaurant opens, it's rare for it to close down. But that's what happened in Fairlight in 1995. The outlet had been operating since 1972 before protests by residents prompted Manly council to refuse it permission to add a late-night drive-through. Without a queue of hungry drivers to feed, the restaurant wasn't financially viable and closed. "This area is rather peculiar," residents' spokeswoman Maureen Young told the Sydney Morning Herald at the time. "It's one of the last bastions – we believe in all the principles that were around before the war, like the Queen and the flag. We're an old fashioned lot." | Once a McDonald's restaurant opens, it's rare for it to close down. But that's what happened in Fairlight in 1995. The outlet had been operating since 1972 before protests by residents prompted Manly council to refuse it permission to add a late-night drive-through. Without a queue of hungry drivers to feed, the restaurant wasn't financially viable and closed. "This area is rather peculiar," residents' spokeswoman Maureen Young told the Sydney Morning Herald at the time. "It's one of the last bastions – we believe in all the principles that were around before the war, like the Queen and the flag. We're an old fashioned lot." |
| Blue Mountains, NSW | Blue Mountains, NSW |
| The idea of adorning the picturesque Blue Mountains with a red and yellow-coloured fast food chain didn't thrill locals in 1997, who mustered enough opposition to see off McDonald's. Noise, traffic and litter were cited as concerns by the Mountains Against McDonald's group, which bombarded the local council with more than 5,000 letters of objection. Campaigners even used a novel tool to help spread the word: the internet. "We received supportive email and helpful advice from people in many parts of the world: we even heard about a successful campaign here in Australia that we had not been aware of before," MAM spokeswoman Anne Elliott said at the time. | The idea of adorning the picturesque Blue Mountains with a red and yellow-coloured fast food chain didn't thrill locals in 1997, who mustered enough opposition to see off McDonald's. Noise, traffic and litter were cited as concerns by the Mountains Against McDonald's group, which bombarded the local council with more than 5,000 letters of objection. Campaigners even used a novel tool to help spread the word: the internet. "We received supportive email and helpful advice from people in many parts of the world: we even heard about a successful campaign here in Australia that we had not been aware of before," MAM spokeswoman Anne Elliott said at the time. |
| Newtown, NSW | Newtown, NSW |
| If McDonald's felt they would have respite from the troublesome hillfolk of the Blue Mountains by building its urban presence, it hadn't factored in the changing tastes of inner-city Sydney. In 1998, McDonald's quit King Street in Newtown, driven out by an army of organic fruit juice sipping, focaccia-munching locals. Or "alternative lifestylers", as the Sydney Morning Herald dubbed them. These subversive calorie-dodgers were noted in a po-faced McDonald's statement: "The restaurant which opened in April 1989 was closed due to the changing demographics of the Newtown area, particularly in King Street." | If McDonald's felt they would have respite from the troublesome hillfolk of the Blue Mountains by building its urban presence, it hadn't factored in the changing tastes of inner-city Sydney. In 1998, McDonald's quit King Street in Newtown, driven out by an army of organic fruit juice sipping, focaccia-munching locals. Or "alternative lifestylers", as the Sydney Morning Herald dubbed them. These subversive calorie-dodgers were noted in a po-faced McDonald's statement: "The restaurant which opened in April 1989 was closed due to the changing demographics of the Newtown area, particularly in King Street." |
| Hospitals in Sydney and Melbourne | Hospitals in Sydney and Melbourne |
| McDonald's has tried to gain access to sickly Australians by locating outlets within hospitals, perhaps in the hope that doctors would start prescribing McFlurries instead of bed rest to recovering patients. This strategy has caused consternation, with South Sydney Council knocking back an application to build restaurants at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in 2002, following objections from doctors and nurses over the rather muddled message sent to patients over healthy eating. The fast food powerhouse fared better in Melbourne. It was allowed to have an outlet at the Royal Children's Hospital in 2009, despite some grumbles from staff. | McDonald's has tried to gain access to sickly Australians by locating outlets within hospitals, perhaps in the hope that doctors would start prescribing McFlurries instead of bed rest to recovering patients. This strategy has caused consternation, with South Sydney Council knocking back an application to build restaurants at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in 2002, following objections from doctors and nurses over the rather muddled message sent to patients over healthy eating. The fast food powerhouse fared better in Melbourne. It was allowed to have an outlet at the Royal Children's Hospital in 2009, despite some grumbles from staff. |
| Seaford, Victoria | Seaford, Victoria |
| The seemingly perennial need for expansion of McDonald's means that conflict with residents is never too far away. Indeed, the Tecoma protest is not even the most recent spat. The people of Seaford, a Melbourne suburb that hugs a stretch of beach down the Mornington Peninsula, are riled over plans to build a McDonald's on the foreshore. ''We are extremely concerned about the proximity to the beach – one of Melbourne's best – and the creek, which are all sensitive environmental regions we feel would be exposed to littering,'' Tony Tyrer, of the excellently-named SCRAM (Seaford Community Residents Against McDonald's) told The Age. | The seemingly perennial need for expansion of McDonald's means that conflict with residents is never too far away. Indeed, the Tecoma protest is not even the most recent spat. The people of Seaford, a Melbourne suburb that hugs a stretch of beach down the Mornington Peninsula, are riled over plans to build a McDonald's on the foreshore. ''We are extremely concerned about the proximity to the beach – one of Melbourne's best – and the creek, which are all sensitive environmental regions we feel would be exposed to littering,'' Tony Tyrer, of the excellently-named SCRAM (Seaford Community Residents Against McDonald's) told The Age. |
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