Grace Tame has eviscerated Anthony Albanese after he criticised her for wearing a ‘disrespectful’ t-shirt to an Australian of the Year event.
The 2021 Australian of the Year wore a T-shirt featuring the slogan: ‘F*** Murdoch’ as she was greeted by a grinning Mr Albanese and his fiancée, Jodie Haydon, at The Lodge in Canberra on Saturday.
Ms Tame, 30, had been invited to attend alongside other dignitaries including previous recipients of the nation’s top honour and 2025 finalists for Australian of the Year.
The child sex abuse survivor has recently railed against the way her personal story was portrayed in the media, particularly by News Corp, which is owned by billionaire Rupert Murdoch and his family.
Later quizzed on his awkward grin during the encounter, the Prime Minister said he thought Ms Tame’s stunt ‘took away from the people who were there’.
‘People are allowed to express themselves, but I thought it was disrespectful of the event and of the people who that event was primarily for,’ Mr Albanese said on Monday.
But now Ms Tame has hit back, accusing Mr Albanese of presiding over a ‘spineless’ and ‘cowardly’ government – as she reveals the real response to her proactive t-shirt inside The Lodge.
In a blistering, 1,500-word essay published by left-wing news website Crikey, Ms Tame took issue with Mr Albanese’s suggestion that her t-shirt took attention away from other award nominees and distinguished guests.
Ms Tame said wore the ‘F*** Murdoch’ T-shirt to an event on the eve of Australia Day to ‘speak truth to power’. L-R: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, his fiancee Jodie Haydon and Ms Tame
‘Surely these were not the same people who asked to take selfies with me wearing the t-shirt in the courtyard, who commended me for taking a stand and staying true to myself?’, she wrote.
‘These people — including medical doctors, academics, scientists, musicians, writers, entrepreneurs, athletes, advocates and even a former soldier who proudly showed me their own anti-Murdoch merchandise?
‘As I was leaving The Lodge, one of the prime minister’s staff remarked, “There are many of us here who wish we could wear that shirt.” Afterwards, journalists wanted to pose beside me.’
Ms Tame, who referred to the Prime Minister on first name terms throughout the piece, accused his Labor of administration of having ‘weak knees’ over its stance on Israel.
‘We’ve all watched in disgust over the past 16 months as the once-impassioned politician, who used to make speeches in Parliament supporting Palestinian liberation, has overseen the contortion of his government’s PR apparatus in defence of Israel’s genocidal operation,’ Ms Tame wrote.
More to come.
