McGuire, Mr E.

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (17:02): Today, I rise to condemn the distasteful remarks made by Collingwood president, Mr Eddie McGuire. Mr Eddie McGuire, as I am sure we are all aware, made horrendous remarks in reference to drowning a fellow female journalist. Drowning, in the scenario used by him, equates to killing. It clearly was not a joke, as he reflected on his first monetary offer to hold her under the water, and then increased it—not once, but twice. This was no slapstick joke, but a deliberate public exercise in humiliation, bullying and speaking of an act of harm to a woman.

Eddie McGuire is no celebrity. He is a coward and a bully. The act he has committed, and then the strange convoluted, supposed apology that then followed, backs this up. Sadly, after situations such as this, when remarks are made by supposed celebrities (and I consider he is not a celebrity, particularly using the words that he did), it polarises the community It can also give the impression that these words are okay, as many Australians will follow by using those types of words and role modelling that people like him put out.

People who backed him up also disappoint me, and I condemn their words. Jeff Kennett, whom we all know, the beyondblue founder and Chair, came out saying that he did not know what the fuss was about, and, 'Don't start telling me here in Australia that we have to lose our sense of humour.' I for one would have thought that Jeff Kennett would recognise bullying and that he would recognise the impacts of bullying. He would recognise that bullying can cause anxiety and depression.

Jeff Kennett, I do not find this very funny, and I do not think that this comment because it was made in application to a woman is at all funny. Jeff, men do not die at the hands of women, and women generally in Australia now are dying at a rate of one per week at the hands of someone, they supposedly are being told, who loves them. We cannot keep hiding behind these supposed slip-ups and make out that they are a joke. They are just plain disrespectful and these types of comments need to stop.

Then there is the supposed apology that Mr McGuire made, when he conceded that it was totally unacceptable and that if in any way his comment condoned violence against women, or it actually offended someone, that was not what he meant to do. In this particular apology, he did not take responsibility yet again for what he had said. He went on to say:

[I'm] really disappointed that these comments have led to these feelings from people. I apologise and retract them in the spirit of what we're trying to achieve, which is to look after women and children in our community.

His apology and retraction came after he initially said the comments were made in the spirt of the fun on the day and who would be next going down the slide. Even in his apology, he still could not face up to take responsibility for what he had said. He still pushed the comments away from himself and he still made it the responsibility of those receiving the message that they, in fact, had the issue and not him. This is just typical behaviour of a bully, someone who will not stand and say—in his case, let's give him a lesson:

I, Eddie McGuire, apologise and take responsibility for what I have said about a woman and the actions that I have said I will take against her and the fact that I said I would bet on drowning her. I take responsibility for that and I am ashamed of what I have done. I am also so ashamed that I will stand down from my position as president of the Collingwood Football Club.

But, no, we have not heard that from Eddie and we have not heard that from the AFL, although they gave some sort of mealy-mouthed apology. We have heard a mealy-mouthed apology from the Collingwood Football Club. But do you know what, Mr McGuire? This is not okay and you are not a celebrity. Your behaviour shows that you are a coward and indeed a bully. This is not the first time that you have done this to someone else. I can recall the Adam Goodes situation, when yet again you managed to try to slip and slide out of this. At the end of the day, Mr McGuire, you are the one who has to live with your comments. You are the one who has to face what you say and the fact that you are not a role model or a celebrity at all.

With those few words, I would like to make us think about these comments that people in our society say and to be brave enough to stand up and call them on those comments and call these people's behaviour for what it is. They simply are abhorrent. They simply are bullies. They are simply part of a pack mentality being shown for all of Australia to hear. I think we all hear time and time again in this place that communication is really critical and that language is critical. We have people who are specifically in the role of policy-makers and the reason that they are policy-makers is that they use language and communication to make policies that will direct a civil society.

Policy-makers would be horrified to think that these words from Mr McGuire would have any influence of any sort in society. I condemn what Mr McGuire has said. I condemn all those who have backed him up, including our Deputy Prime Minister, who seem to think they are okay as well. I call him for what he is—a coward and a bully. I also condemn the AFL for not acting more strongly on his behaviour.