A series of prominent left-leaning politicians and influencers have turned on Anthony Albanese after he described Grace Tame as 'difficult'. The Prime Minister was asked to answer a series of questions with a single word during a forum held by a Victorian newspaper on Wednesday. The Labor leader's answer for the 2021 Australian of the Year was 'difficult' - something that Ms Tame herself took exception to on Thursday, resharing a post that branded Albanese a 'misogynist'. 'Difficult is the misogynist's code for a woman who won't comply. History tends to call her "courageous",' survivor and advocate Harrison James captioned a photo with Ms Tame. Albanese quickly back-pedalled, reframing his 'difficult' description. 'She's had a difficult life, that's what I was referring to,' he said.
From ally to adversary
Progressive influencer Hannah Ferguson - using an expletive - described Albanese as a 'user', and noted that he closely associated himself with Ms Tame before his 2022 election win. 'Anthony Albanese has departed from any principles he once claimed to have as he follows Pauline down the road to the right,' she said. 'That's all that's happening right now... as he sees her numbers surge, he's following her relevance. Australians... can smell a disingenuous person a mile away... He's bootlicking.' Crikey politics editor Bernard Keane said: 'Albanese was happy to co-opt Tame for political purposes when he was opposition leader and the Morrison government was mired in accusations of misogyny. Now, he's using the 'difficult woman' stereotype about her (why not 'hysterical', or 'shrill', PM?).'
Leave her alone
Satire group The Chaser described Albanese as 'spineless' in a parody news headline that stated: 'Spineless man frustrated that woman dares to have one.' Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni said: 'You have been given an extraordinary mandate to be great, we're all over mediocre Albo, stop pretending and lean into the (Palestinian headscarf) keffiyeh Albo of old, I know he's in there somewhere!' Channel Ten newsreader Narelda Jacobs also weighed in by sharing a group photo with Tame alongside fellow presenters Benjamin Law, Antoinette Lattouf, Yumi Stynes and Kirli Saunders. 'Difficult not to love,' Jacobs wrote in reference to Tame. Stynes added: 'Leave Grace Tame the [expletive] alone!'
Aussie musician and former manager of The Wiggles, Paul Field, also pledged his support for Ms Tame. 'We need more and more 'difficult' women, like Grace Tame,' he captioned a photo of the pair. 'Always speaking truth to power. Continued love and strength to her.' Field added a quote from late primatologist Jane Goodall: 'It actually doesn't take much to be considered a difficult woman. That's why there's so many of us.' Greens leader Larissa Waters said: 'Labelling women as difficult won't silence us. It won't stop us speaking truth to power.' Her colleague, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, said: 'Some of my best friends are 'difficult' women.'
Ms Tame compared Albanese with his predecessor Scott Morrison, who she famously threw a shady side-eye glare at during a frosty exchange at an Australian of the Year function in 2022. 'Both men, when called out for their behaviour towards me, have used 'she's had a difficult life' as a condescending justification. Get some new material boys!' She also slammed him as an 'old man'. Ms Tame sparked controversy earlier this month when she chanted 'Globalise the Intifada' during a speech at a Sydney rally protesting the visit by Israeli president Isaac Herzog.
The protest turned violent when activists defied a court order banning their march, risking arrest under special police powers introduced by the NSW Government for Herzog's visit. Ms Tame led a chant from a microphone on the steps of Sydney Town Hall of 'From Gadigal to Gaza, globalise the Intifada', which was echoed by thousands below, waving Palestinian flags. Gadigal is the Aboriginal name for Sydney and the word 'intifada' refers to armed uprisings by Palestinians against Israel. The stunt sparked widespread calls for the former Australian of the Year winner to be stripped of the honour.