Anthony Albanese has copped backlash over the word he used to describe child sexual abuse survivor Grace Tame, during a rapid-fire questioning at the Future Victoria summit.
The Prime Minister was asked to provide one-word answers by Herald Sun editor Sam Weir during the summit. He was first asked about Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, to which he replied “Best wishes.”
He continued to describe other politicians and public figures including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, whom he labelled a “grub”.
He was also asked to describe One Nation voters, to which he replied, “frustrated” and for the party’s leader Pauline Hanson, he replied “divisive”.
When asked to provide a one-word description of Grace Tame, the 2021 Australian of the Year, he replied: “difficult”.
The Prime Minister’s response was slammed online, with MPs and members of the public calling him out.
“Difficult is the misogynist’s code for a woman who won’t comply. History tends to call her ‘courageous,” sex abuse survivor and advocate Harrison James shared.
James’ post was shared by Tame, who posted it on her Instagram Story on Thursday morning.
“Labelling women as difficult won’t silence us. It won’t stop us speaking truth to power. Next time try ‘unbreakable’ or ‘warrior’ or ‘fierce’, Prime Minister,” Greens leader Larissa Waters said.
“Some of my best friends are ‘difficult’ women….(OK, all of them, and I love them for it!)” South Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young replied.
Others questioned why Albanese didn’t choose a different word to represent Tame, an advocate for survivors of sexual assault, with one person telling him to “do better”.
“Couldn’t say inspiring, or courageous, or powerful or ‘great’ …” one social media user commented.
“Grace Tame is so courageous and tenacious. This is so disappointing from our PM,” another wrote.
However others have defended Albanese’s response, with one person writing: “The cue was ‘Grace Tame’ in which he responded with ‘difficult’. The cue was not ‘women’.
“For those suggesting that he was calling women in general difficult, you are not interpreting this dialogue correctly.”
Another questioned: “Because he called one woman difficult, he is calling all women difficult?”
Pauline Hanson has also responded to his comment in an interview with Sky News.
“If he wanted to use the divisive for me, I’d say he’s been the most divisive Prime Minister we have ever had in this country,” she said.
“With the Voice, with the antisemitism, everything that’s happened. I just feel that he has divided this nation. He’s pitted Australian against Australian, and it’s a shame,” she added.
“Our country is nowhere near what it was before he took the reins of being prime minister for this country. Many people feel that way. It’s a shame.”
Update
The Prime Minister has since issued an apology to Grace Tame, saying that his comment was misinterpreted and that he meant “difficult life”.
“If there was any misinterpretation, then I certainly apologise,” he told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
“She has had a difficult life and that was what I was referring to. What Grace Tame has done is turn that difficult experience that she had into being a strong advocate for others.”
He then said that while he opposed her recent chanting of “Globalise the intifada” at a pro-Palestine rally, she was a “strong and powerful advocate” for child abuse sex survivors.
“That’s why it’s impossible to describe people in one word.”
Images: Instagram
