New Matilda, in partnership with the Sparkke Change Beverage Company, has launched the first in a series of major public awareness campaigns aimed at keeping #ChangeTheDate on the national agenda.

The Great Aussie Beer Bash, on May 23, will see every federal politician in the country receive a carton or two of Change The Date Pilsner, Sparkke’s premium beer with a serious message.

For $20, Aussies can ‘shout a politician a beer’ via New Matilda’s latest Pozible campaign. And if that leaves a sour taste, for $5 more they can ‘shout a politician an empty’ (we’ll mail them empty cans of Change The Date instead, so they just get to read the message and not enjoy the beer).

Readers can also contribute more and send specific politicians a beer (or empty) along with a pointed, hand-written message. Spend $500 on ‘The Rare Shout’ and you can shoot straight for the big players – choose between Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, Cory Bernardi, Pauline Hanson, Peter Dutton, Bill Shorten and Mark Latham (our fondly dubbed ‘Salty Seven’).

On May 23, all federal politicians will receive their cartons of Change The Date Pilsner (and empties), along with a ‘party box’ which contains trinkets, badges, and information about the importance of finding a national day that doesn’t coincide with the theft, slaughter and dispossession of another people.

The Great Aussie Beer Bash at Parliament House, Canberra will coincide with ‘Shout Out’ events in pubs and clubs around the nation. This is the first campaign in a series New Matilda will be running throughout 2018, focused on #ChangeTheDate.

New Matilda publisher/editor and Sparkke director, Chris Graham says the campaign is being launched now, to spark an ongoing conversation.

“The movement behind Change the Date built a lot of momentum this year – more than 100,000 people turned out to protest marches around the nation on January 26,” Mr Graham said.

“But if we’re to build on that momentum, we need to be talking about #ChangeTheDate all year round. It’s not a conversation that will lead to real change if we only have it once a year, for a few days either side of January 26.”

Agi Gajic, Sparkke’s award winning head brewer said the Change The Date Pilsner was popular with consumers, but not so much with the big end of town.

“Of all of our messages, this is the one that has received the least support from the alcohol industry. It’s surprised us – the pils has already won a local medal at a major beer festival, and we know it’s really sessionable.

“We’re just happy to be in a position to work with New Matilda on an issue we feel strongly about and with a beer we believe in.

“We get to unleash the disruptive aspect of our brand. That’s our happiest space.”

You can find out more details about the Great Aussie Beer Bash here. And you can find out more about the Sparkke Change Beverage Company here.

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