Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has apologised if his words were “misinterpreted” after receiving backlash over labelling Australian of Year Grace Tame “difficult”.
“If there was any misinterpretation, then I certainly apologise,” the PM told reporters this morning, per the ABC.
Albanese described Tame — a child sexual abuse survivor and advocate — as “difficult” during an appearance at the Future Victoria summit on Wednesday, when asked by Herald Sun editor Sam Weir to provide one-word responses to a list of names.
“She has had a difficult life and that was what I was referring to,” Albanese said this morning.
“What Grace Tame has done is turn that difficult experience that she had into being a strong advocate for others which is why she received, quite rightly, the Australian of the Year Award.”
While he praised her for being a “strong and powerful advocate”, Albanese said he opposed Tame’s actions at Sydney’s anti-Isaac Herzog protest earlier this month — where she chanted the phrase “Globalise the intifada”.
The slogan is used by Palestinian supporters to advocate for Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation, but governments worldwide — including Australian state and federal government — view it as hate speech.
“There are other issues, such as the language that Grace Tame used, that I disagree with, at the demonstration that was held in Sydney,” Albanese said.
“That’s why it’s impossible to describe people in one word, and that wasn’t meant to be taken that way. It was certainly just a word that comes to mind when different people are mentioned.”
Tame has not yet responded directly to Albanese’s comments, but she did reshare multiple supportive posts from politicians, influencers and activists this morning, including one that read: “Difficult is the misogynist’s code for a woman who won’t comply.”
Kath Ebbs was among those to defend Tame, writing on Instagram that she is “a gift to all”, while Greens Senator Larissa Waters said Albanese’s comment was “completely unwarranted”.
Last year, Albanese criticised Tame for wearing a “FUCK Murdoch” t-shirt to an Australian of the Year event, saying the move “took away from the people who were there” and was “designed to get attention”.
In the same Future Victoria interview, Albanese described Australia Day with the one-word reply “great” and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with “grub”.
Lead images: Getty and Sky News
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