A fortnight ago, the Australian government launched what it called a world-first inquiry into sexual harassment at work in response to the revelations of the #MeToo movement. It was a widely-praised initiative, with an expectation that it would dig into what the problem was, and what needed to be done to fix it.

Then David Leyonhjelm, a federal senator, delivered a real-life case study in what the problem was and how women, especially uppity women with a public profile, can expect to be treated. With perfect timing, he exposed the obvious: insulting or disagreeing with women almost invariably becomes sexual in a way that it does not for men. And parts of the media use outrage as a business model, and women – those feminist women – are all part of the show. There is nothing uniquely Australian about this, but let’s say we do sexism with Australian characteristics.

Backlash over sexist comments on Sky News as Hanson-Young seeks legal advice Read more

The Senate was debating a motion to allow the importation of pepper spray and personal tasers to give women options to defend themselves. That motion was in part inspired by the rape and murder of 22-year-old Eurydice Dixon when she walked home through an inner-city Melbourne park in June.

Greens senator Janet Rice opposed the motion in a way that highlighted the culture war debate that arose after Dixon’s death: the onus should not be on women to go to extreme lengths to combat violence, she said, when it was men’s crimes that were the issue.

Sarah Hanson-Young, a fellow Green senator, interjected that “men should stop raping women”.

Leyonhjelm, who was one of only five senators who supported the motion, shot back that Hanson-Young “should stop shagging men”. When Hanson-Young went over to confront him, she called him a “creep”. Leyonhjelm replied, “fuck off”.

The loudest, most outrageous comment gets media attention, especially in those parts of the media that rely on it.

Leyonhjelm, a member of the Liberal Democrats, is a libertarian elected to the Senate in 2013 through sheer luck. His party drew first on the ballot and, because it had “liberal” in the title, many thought they were voting for the mainstream Liberal party. So here he is, a powerful crossbencher in a divided Senate, espousing his notion of “freedom”.



He’s pro same-sex marriage, wants lower taxes, is keen on privatising the ABC and campaigns to loosen gun control laws. He invited Milo Yiannopoulos to speak at Parliament House, the same Milo who during his national tour put up a photo of feminist writer Clementine Ford, with the word “UNFUCKABLE” superimposed. Leyonhjelm found Milo a “reasonable, rational sort of a guy”.

Every parliament has its eccentrics, and they have a place. Having a libertarian in the house is no bad thing, however accidental his election. Yet we are in the outrage era, the angry era, the era of political disillusionment. The loudest, most outrageous comment gets media attention, especially in those parts of the media that rely on it.

Sky News is a cable news channel controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. It has excellent, award-winning news programs, and a number of shouty rightwing opinion shows. Sky News decided Leyonhjelm’s remark about Hanson-Young, and his refusal to apologise to her, was so juicy it had him on twice to discuss it. On Sunday, he appeared on a little watched show called Outsiders, hosted by Rowan Dean and Ross Cameron, middle-aged rightwing culture warriors.

Leyonhjelm would certainly not apologise, he said, because he was calling out misandry, or hatred of men. He hadn’t quite heard what Hanson-Young had said, but it was “to the effect of men should stop raping women, the implication being all men are rapists”. Those statements are not at all the same, but he went further.

“This is not a criticism, but Sarah is known for liking men, the rumours about her in parliament house are well known, so I just said, ‘well just stop shagging men, then Sarah, it just doesn’t make any sense. If you think they are all rapists why would you shag them?’ ”

The remark drips with tawdry contempt, implying that Hanson-Young sleeps around. It is such a routine way for men to dismiss women they disagree with – they’re sluts, they’re frigid, they’re ugly, they’re hot. Sky News has apologised for the “appalling” comment, and many of its credible presenters agreed. The award-winning journalist David Speers said the remarks were “completely unacceptable and should have been called out by Rowan and Ross at the time”. Something called “basic human decency” should come first.

David Speers (@David_Speers) The comments were completely unacceptable and should have been called out by Rowan and Ross at the time. There’s room for plenty of opinions, but basic human decency should come first. Sexism is never ok. I’m glad Sky News has apologised. I have also contacted @sarahinthesen8 https://t.co/OuMiwhmSdJ

Sky News apologised and launched an investigation, and has in the meantime suspended a young female producer responsible for writing the strap at the bottom of the screen – which accurately recorded what Leyonhjelm said.

It has not reprimanded the hosts – not Rowan Dean, who rants against feminism and identity politics and who once wrote a column blaming “climate change alarmists” for the Grenfell fire tragedy.

Australia has a blokey culture, and there is considerable backlash to revelations of the ubiquity of sexual harassment

Not Ross Cameron, the former Liberal MP who calls the Sydney Morning Herald the Sydney Morning Homosexual.

How could these two be reprimanded? The hosts are meant to be outrageous, required to offend. Dean chuckled along as Leyonhjelm said Hanson-Young “has the right to shag as many men as she likes”.

This show appears designed to be unfair and ugly and angry. It has nothing to do with “basic human decency”, so it is far easier to scapegoat a junior producer than admit the program was working entirely as planned. A day later, the hosts issued an on-air apology, saying the senator had crossed a line and seeking to disassociate themselves from “unverified rumour and innuendo” about Hanson-Young’s private life. They had no such scruples during the interview, which went on for more than 17 minutes.



It would be wrong to say this incident proves that Australia is struggling with the #MeToo movement and what it might mean, although it is. Australia has a blokey culture, and there is considerable backlash to revelations of the ubiquity of sexual harassment, whether low level or more serious. It’s a “yes, but” response. Yes, but it’s not that bad. Yes, but women are taking it too far. Yes, but women have no sense of humour.

At least the former AFL champion Barry Hall was sacked on the spot by a radio station a few days ago, and few argued against it. Hall seemed to find it it amusing to make what amounted to a rape joke when discussing, with guffaws all round, a medical procedure a footballer’s wife was undertaking to induce labour. Hall insinuated the doctor had acted in a sexually inappropriate way when he inserted his fingers into the pregnant woman.

When Senator Leyonhjelm told me to ‘stop shagging men’, I had to speak up | Sarah Hanson-Young Read more

Hall apologised, saying it was a “silly thing to say and not a reflection of who I am ... I have nothing but respect for women”.

Gee, we’ve heard that before. Nothing but respect for women. Leyonhjelm won’t even say sorry, can’t even see that saying “men should stop raping women” is not comparable to “all men are rapists”. (Hanson-Young said she neither said nor implied that all men were rapists and any suggestion she did was a lie.)

Leyonhjelm told Fairfax Media that “insincere apologies seem to be all the rage at the moment and I’m not in for it”.

What a hero he is, what an ornament to our parliament. Hanson-Young is considering taking legal action for defamation. She wrote in the Guardian after the “shagging” remark that she had had enough of the sexualised insults she had put up with as a senator. “I’ve had enough of pretending the slurs and taunts aren’t there.” Men’s names are shouted at her across the chamber, supposedly men she sleeps with. She is told to change the way she looks, to smile more.



The slurs and taunts are there, and women put up with them for fear, as Hanson-Young has said, of being accused of playing the “gender card”. It’s hard for women to win this game, harder still when the cards are stacked against them.