This week, Senator David Leyonhjelm used tax-payer dollars to stand in the Senate and tell Senator Sarah Hanson-Young to “stop shagging men”. When she challenged him, he told her to “f*ck off”.
He then appeared on Sky News Australia. Senator Leyonhjelm, who works for you and I, sat on the panel of ‘Outsiders‘ and said Senator Hanson-Young was “well known for liking men” and “rumours about her in Parliament are well known”.
We can all breathe a sigh of relief that our public representatives truly are talking about the stuff that matters in Parliament.
It is as though our politicians are desperate to be characters on a reality television show none of us agreed to watch. The vicious personal attacks, the name calling, and the interrogation of what one does in their private lives is something voters never asked for.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young demands an apology. Post continues.
One day after Senator Leyonhjelm’s comments in the Senate, retired AFL-star Barry Hall joined three other commentators on Triple M for Melbourne’s pre-game coverage.
Presenter Leigh Montagna, also a former AFL player, began telling the story of how his wife, Erinn Byrne, was undergoing a procedure by an obstetrician to help induce labour. Another man on the panel ‘joked’ that he’d heard the obstetrician was good looking, before Hall made an entirely inappropriate sexual remark that Mamamia has deemed unsuitable to publish.
Hall was sacked before the program ended.
Head of content at Triple M, Mike Fitzpatrick released a statement that said: “Tonight on Triple M Football there were unacceptable and inappropriate comments made by a member of the commentary team.
“The commentator was removed immediately from the broadcast and an apology was issued on air afterwards. Immediate action was taken with the termination of employment for one team member.”
The decision was universally applauded, and if there was any question about where the ‘line’ was, most of us agreed that Hall had crossed it by the length of a football field. Or two.
We discuss this issue on the latest episode of Mamamia Out Loud:
In politics, however, it feels like Senator Leyonhjelm is desperately searching for a line that does not yet exist.
We’ve watched as one of our highest ranking public officials slut-shamed another. When Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called on Senator Leyonhjelm to apologise, he decided to call Turnbull a “pussy”. On Saturday, Senator Leyonhjelm went on to call journalist Angela Bishop a “bigoted bitch” on Twitter, and not only has he refused to apologise, he’s also refused to delete the tweet.
Can we seriously expect the Australian public to respect our politicians when they seem entirely incapable of respecting each other?
Surely we have a problem when Triple M are doing a better job at demanding basic respect for women than Parliament House is.
The job of football commentators is to talk about football, and the job of politicians is to talk about policy. This week, both have failed dismally at doing what they are paid to do.
But perhaps their remarks were necessary. It takes comments like those made by Hall and Senator Leyonhjelm to be said in a public forum, and taken out from behind closed doors, in order for us to, first, know what we’re dealing with, and second, decide on what we’re willing to accept.
Hall learned the hard way that comments that humiliate, degrade and ultimately objectify women won’t be tolerated.
If only that lesson was on offer for Senator Leyonhjelm.
Top Comments
I notice that people who defend Leyonhjelm do so along ideology lines, and not on argument, facts or principle. Greens are far-left, but the far-right are taking the view that 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. The far-right continue to defend Leyonhjelm because they are ideologues who are dogmatic and facts don't matter. There have been mentions of a 'recording' going around of SHY having said this; unfortunately it is fake news. It doesn't exist. But that hasn't stopped the ideologically driven far-right from re-tweeting and mentioning it. It is the 'side' you are on, not the facts that are important. It has become obvious to me a long time ago that the far-right are so driven by a need for ideological warfare that there is no reasoning with them. Facts don't matter to them. WINNING AT ALL COSTS does.
far right and far left are relative.
Most agree that Hitler was far right - ie ultra nationalist military dictatorship.
I'm not aware of any party in oz that is far right. By USA standards the libs+lab+greens are all varying degrees of left wing.
Wanting restrictive merit based immigration is not in the same universe as ethnic cleansing.
I guess you have never heard of One Nation or Australian Conservatives. They are both far right.
One Nation or Australian Conservatives in usa would still be left wing or quite central. The GOP(Trumps party) are much more conservative than both- by almost every measure.
The UPF is as close to a "far right" in oz - but they are not in the same universe as the Nazis.
I don't like SHY but this is not acceptable behaviour. Attack policies not the individual.
As a Greenie, she isn't my favourite person. I find her reactionary and she often doesn't think before she speaks. But, in this case, I support her 100% and I hope this awful excuse of a man is held accountable.
Politicians want it both ways though. They vetoed a code of conduct so they could retain the right of Parliamentary privilege to insult each other. Earlier this year, Adam Bandt called Jim Molan a coward and suggested he could be tried as a war criminal. In return, Molan threatened him with legal action ( but did not). The Greens walked out en masse when Pauline Hanson gave a speech and Larissa Waters bordered on outright rudeness to Pauline on Q&A. Leyonhjelm was rude with the way he spoke to SHY, but the Greens appear to believe they can say and do whatever they want, but do not extend that same latitude to others.
Well said Susie.
SHY has made a career having a hissy fit in front of the media about refugees. A horrible politician. But still entitled not to have sexual smears directed at her.