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Australia Day revellers' 'disgusting' behaviour at iconic Sydney beach

‘More than disgusting’ is how one Sydney local described Australia Day festivities that left a beach trashed.

An image uploaded to social media appears to show Gordons Bay, near Coogee, clogged with tourists on January 26.

Swimmers can be seen lounging on inflatable toys and enjoying the public holiday’s warm weather.

Images uploaded to social media appear to show rubbish left behind by beachgoers. Source: Reddit
Images uploaded to social media appear to show rubbish left behind by beachgoers. Source: Reddit

Horrifyingly, a photo taken after the revellers had gone home revealed some had left behind more than just footprints in the sand.

Tyre tubes, an inflatable bird and other assorted holiday items can be seen littered across the beach.

By 10am today, much of the rubbish had been cleaned up, with bins rammed full with plastic toys and beer bottles.

Despite efforts to tend the beach back to its splendour, a discarded inflatable mattress was left bobbing in the water out of reach, and countless bottles were lying in between the rocks.

'Thoughtless': Coogee local outraged by rubbish left behind on Australia Day

Coogee resident Franz told Yahoo News Australia earlier in the day rubbish had been blocking the footpath.

Afraid people would fall over it, he cleared much of the waste aside before returning to his morning walk.

“It was more than pretty disgusting, it’s absolutely thoughtless," he said.

Japanese man Tatsuya Imura was shocked to find so many discarded bottles at the beach. Source: Yahoo News Australia
Japanese man Tatsuya Imura was shocked to find so many discarded bottles at the beach. Source: Yahoo News Australia

While safety was his initial concern, upon reflected he said he was left stunned at the high-quality reusable items discarded by beachgoers.

“There were good things, towels with just a bit of sand on them and other items,” he said.

“I was actually thinking of picking up two towels and donating them to Vinnies, but by the time I got back it had been cleaned up.

Japanese visitor dismayed by behaviour of Aussies

Despite an area alcohol ban, 43-year-old Tatsuya Imura noticed a number of empty alcohol bottles and cups still littering the rocks as he arrived for a dive this morning.

Bins close to the beach were crammed full of perfectly good beach items. Source: Yahoo News Australia
Bins close to the beach were crammed full of perfectly good beach items. Source: Yahoo News Australia

Having moved from Japan to Sydney, he said he couldn’t believe people in Australia would behave in such away, showing such disregard for the natural environment.

“This is disgusting, I don’t want to see this one,” he said.

“Even in the water I saw beer tins, so much rubbish.”

Council disappointed by rubbish left on beaches for others to clean up

Randwick City Council confirmed “very large crowds" flocked to the region's beaches on Australia Day.

Coastal areas including Coogee, Clovelly, Maroubra, Malabar, Little Bay and La Perouse were all at capacity early in the day.

“Council put on extra staff on the day to assist with waste and cleansing and placed extra bins and signage at key locations," a council spokesperson said.

"Many people did the right thing and helped our staff by minimising their waste or by placing it in the bin.

"It’s always disappointing that a small percentage of people don’t do the right thing and leave their rubbish for others to clean up.

"Gordon’s Bay in particular is difficult to access and our staff manually cleaned the beach and rocks removing the rubbish and inflatables left by beach goers.”

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