Western Australia is rejoicing following the news Phase 4 easing of restrictions begins in the state this weekend, with one pub even offering free meals to celebrate.
But there’s a catch. Your name has to be Mark, in honour of WA Premier Mark McGowan.
The owners of the Swinging Pig in Rockingham are giving free meals to the Premier and anyone named Mark, Marc, Marcus or Marco over the weekend.
The pub made the free meals announcement on its Facebook page, with the hashtag #thanksmark.
“In case you haven’t heard, our mate Marko’s done it again!
“Saturday 27 June brings even more joy as you’ll be able to stand with a pint again, plus a bunch of other great stuff!
“To help give our mate Mark a huge thumbs up, all weekend we’re doing ‘Mark Eats Free’ for anyone named Mark.
“Just buy a meal, and we’ll shout your mate Mark for free.
‘You can trust the boy from Rocko to sort it out!’
“If the big man Mr McGowan happens to take us up on it, we’ll shout the whole pub a pint!
“Get tagging your Mark-mates!”
The pub noted that “no imposters allowed, gotta show ID.”
The post has been liked by more than 1500 people, shared more than 1000 times and attracted more than 2200 comments.
“Mark my words, it will be a Saturday to remember!”, one joked.
“I’ll Mark it in my diary,” another said.
“Mark my words, it will be a Saturday to remember!” said another.
The Premier reacted to the offer on Tuesday morning at a press conference, saying he would make time to pop down to the pub on Saturday.
“Why not? I’ll go down to the Swinging Pig and hopefully they deliver – hopefully, it’s not a pony or a shandy,” he said.
“Hopefully it’s a pint.”
Good humour in hard times
McGowan dissolved into laughter on Monday when he was asked at a press conference to comment on mullet discrimination, after a man was refused entry to a bar in Perth because of his haircut.
“I just encourage people with mullets to rise up and rebel against these extreme rules pubs are imposing,” McGowan said.
“I think you should be free to have a mullet, and go to a pub. I don’t think there should be rules around that.”
Earlier this month, McGowan went to a Rockingham kebab shop after being asked at a press briefing whether West Australians would be fined for going for a jog and sitting down to eat a kebab, like a man had been in NSW.
“They do think differently in NSW,” he replied through laughter, before declaring: “There’s nothing wrong with going for a run and having a kebab.”
Later, in a video posted to his Facebook page, he said: “Hi everyone, phase three changes have kicked in, there’s relaxation of restaurants and cafes and the like across the state. I’ve come out to celebrate.
“I’m here at Pitta Pit in Rockingham with Sam who’s running the show here and I’m eating a kebab. Enjoy!”
The video was captioned: “Happy Phase 3 Western Australia! I didn’t run here, but I could have.”
