The Greens candidate Julian Burnside has resigned as a member of an exclusive all-male Melbourne social club, after being questioned about it during an appearance on Sky News on Friday night.
The human rights barrister and candidate for the federal seat of Kooyong declared that “same-sex only clubs are a relic of the past” on Saturday, and said he was resigning from the Melbourne Savage Club – which describes itself as “one of Australia’s oldest private members’ clubs”.
Burnside said he had pushed for the club to allow women to join, with no success, and had chosen to quit.
“I joined the Savage Club 40 years ago as a very different person to the one I am today,” he announced on Twitter. “I’ve argued for change from within but it’s too slow in coming, so I am resigning my membership until it welcomes all people.”
Same-sex only clubs are a relic of the past. I joined the Savage Club 40 years ago as a very different person to the one I am today. I’ve argued for change from within but it’s too slow in coming, so I am resigning my membership until it welcomes all people.
— Julian Burnside (@JulianBurnside) March 9, 2019
The Savage Club describes itself as “the home of bohemian Melbourne” and a place “for artists, intellectuals and business leaders to share ideas and enjoy good company”.
According to the club’s website, membership is by invitation and “offered to gentlemen who are able to embrace the Club’s ethos and who enjoy good fellowship”.
“Ladies guests are welcome at the club at many functions and are always welcome at the Club after 4.30pm on weekdays,” it says.
In 2014, the former Liberal attorney general George Brandis revealed that he was a member of the Savage Club, and the Labor senator Doug Cameron described it as having “bizarre rituals that require members, when they are greeting a new member … to make guttural noises and beat their chests … like Tarzan calling on Jane”.
In a statement, Burnside added: “I’ve only been to the club a handful of times over the past few years so it hasn’t been at the forefront of my mind, and so I’m glad to have been given an opportunity to think about this issue more seriously.
“Having done so and having listened to how my supporters feel about it … I have taken the decision to resign my membership.”
Burnside was questioned about his membership of the club by the Liberal senator Jane Hume on Sky News on Friday night.
“I belong to a men’s-only club. I have belonged to it for 40 years when things were a bit different,” he said. “It’s a thing called the Melbourne Savage Club … I got married there.”
“Don’t talk to me about dismantling the patriarchy if you’re going to be a member of the Savage Club,” Hume said.
.@JulianBurnside: I belong to a men-only club, I've been a member of Melbourne Savage Club for 40 years. @SenatorHume: What have you done to promote the cause of women in the Savage Club.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) March 8, 2019
JB: I've argued for it - there's resistance.
MORE: https://t.co/ykweMevBOK #politicshq pic.twitter.com/pfXQeJLmn9
“I would like to see the Savage Club allow women as members. I have argued for it and there’s a lot of resistance,” Burnside said.
“Publicly?” asked Hume
“You don’t argue about private matters publicly do you?” Burnside replied.
Burnside, a prominent human rights lawyer and refugee activist, is challenging the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, in what is shaping up to be a four-way contest along with the Liberal-turned-independent Oliver Yates and Labor’s Jana Stewart.
The Melbourne Savage Club was founded in 1894, inspired by the Savage Club of London, as a social club for those interested in music, art, literature and science.
