Shame on 'slut-shamer' Leyonhjelm

Senator Leyonhjelm's remarks towards Senator Hanson-Young reveal an insidious depth to the latent hatred that promulgates much of our national psyche, writes contributing editor-at-large Tess Lawrence.

DAVID LEYONHJELM, BARRY HALL — sexually arrested adult males (SAMs)?

Maybe so. But that may be an insult to SAMs.

Even if they are, it is no excuse for their recent egregiously offensive and repugnant behaviour towards women.

These goons are the antitheses of "big dick energy".

Liberal Democrat Senator Leyonhjelm's pathetic remarks outed by South Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young on Thursday (28 June) that she should “stop shagging men” reveals an insidious depth to the latent and blatant hatred that we now realise promulgates much of our national psyche and behaviours. 

Many females of the homo sapien species will be familiar with, upon declining an invitation by a male counterpart to have sex, being “accused” (I use the word advisedly) of being a “lezzo”, or a “dyke”, or “frigid.” Of course, various gender combos will have correlating experiences.

LEYONHJELM'S SLURS VERBAL SEXUAL ABUSE

Leyonhjelm's continuing histrionic slurs against Hanson-Young surely slam into the category of verbal sexual abuse.

Hanson-Young tweeted:

'I have formally put this event on the record in the Senate and asked Senator Leyonhjelm to withdraw his comment and apologise directly.'

Tellingly, this all took place while the Senate was debating a motion by Queensland Senator Fraser Anning on the prevention of violence against women and the debate about relaxing the rules for importing chemical and tasers weapons into Australia. It was overwhelmingly defeated, 46 to five.

Here is some of the wording in Hansard.

Senator Anning called on the Government:

(i) to allow the importation of pepper spray, mace and tasers for individual self-defense, and

(ii) to encourage state governments to legalise and actively promote the carrying of pepper spray, mace and tasers by women for political protection.

Yes, for use by women for “political protection”.  Perhaps it was meant to read “personal protection”. Humans and machines both make mistakes.

Then again, perhaps the transcriber heard what Leyonhjelm said to Hanson-Young.

LEYONHJELM TOLD HANSON-YOUNG TO F**K OFF 

You will recall that Senator Leyonhjelm spruiks for the notorious National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and, being a real man, supports the introduction of rapid-fire weapons into Australia like the French-made Verney-Carron Veloce for protection against Australia's notoriously predatory man-eating wild animals.

The Big White Hunter is alive and well in Oz and David Leyonhjelm is his name.

After the vote, Senator Hanson-Young approached her counterpart and asked him to confirm what he said.

He did and has confirmed he told her to "fuck off":

I do not agree with Senator Hanson-Young’s sentiments about all men being rapists and I believe I have the right to voice my opinion accordingly. That Senator Hanson-Young took offence from my comments is an issue for her, not me.

However, I am prepared to rephrase my comments.

I strongly urge Senator Hanson-Young to continue shagging men as she pleases.

NO EVIDENCE HANSON-YOUNG SAID ALL MEN WERE RAPISTS

There's no evidence in Hansard or elsewhere that Hanson-Young said that all men were rapists.

Hanson-Young sought and was granted a one-minute leave to make a statement:

Earlier today, during the motion relating to violence against women, Senator Leyonhjelm yelled an offensive and sexist slur at me from across the chamber. After the vote on the motion was complete, I walked over to the Senator and confronted him directly. I asked whether I had heard him correctly. He confirmed that he had yelled, "You should stop shagging men, Sarah." Shocked, I told him that he was a creep. His reply was to tell me to "f… off".

I informed the leader of the Greens and he has raised it with both Senator Leyonhjelm and the President. I am disappointed that the Senator has refused to apologise for this offensive and sexist slur and I call on him to formally withdraw and apologise directly.

LEYONHJELM'S SEXUAL OBSESSION WITH HANSON-YOUNG

Mounted upon his galloping ego, Senator Leyonhjelm has since compounded his toxic animus and disturbing sexual obsession with Senator Hanson-Young in a series of subsequent bizarre media appearances, including an offensive reference on Sky's Outsiders, this time referring to Parliamentary “rumours” and her alleged sexual appetite.

Sky News issued an apology to Hanson-Young and suspended a young female producer for typing out a "strap" across the screen about what Leyonhjelm had said.

SKY NEWS EXECS NEED TO MAN UP AND SUSPEND CAMERON AND DEAN

The Sky News executives need to man up on this.

What about the pathetic professional and moral cowardice of the show's two adult male presenters, Ross Cameron and Rowan Dean, who failed to call out Leyonhjelm's slut-shaming? They clearly endorsed the comments of their guests. They are the ones that should have been suspended.

Let's have a shufti at Ross Alexander Cameron, in particular, who famously once shared a house with then Tourism Minister Joe Hockey.

As a lawyer and media player, Cameron should have been aware of the sexist and defamatory implications of Leyonhjelm's remarks. It will come as no surprise that he is a former Liberal politician in the Howard Government, who represented the good people of Parramatta during the years 1996-2004.

A committed righteous Christian and founding member of the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship, on the eve of the 2004 Federal Election, he revealed in the Good Weekend magazine that he'd cheated on his wife Genevieve, with whom he has four children, including twins. Sound familiar?

If his confession was designed to ameliorate his infidelity to entice once again the vote of his steadfastly loyal electorate, the punters didn't buy it. He failed to get re-elected.

The article was republished in 2014.

Cameron told the incisive profiler Jane Cadzow that: 

"I have been an unfaithful husband ... My wife has had some pretty good reasons to walk away, and it's frankly pretty amazing that she hasn't already. But she is very focused on the welfare of the kids and I think that's helped her stay strong and positive in a tough situation."

Cameron has more foul contemporary priors when it comes to women and equal/human rights and justice. He speaks more lies to lying power.

CAMERON'S DICK CRUSH ON "PUSSY" DONALD TRUMP

Consider his testosterone-fueled dick crush of Donald Trump's when the notorious 2005 "Pussygate" tapes came to light, where the vulgar candidate, now U.S. President said, 

" ... when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."

Again, it was another Sky high appearance, this time in October 2016, when Cameron dressed for the occasion wearing "Pussycad" garb – a Trump tee-shirt and cap possibly given to him by his buddy and fellow Trump acolyte, Senator Cory Bernardi – perhaps from his sojourn in the States at taxpayers' expense.

Cameron mansplained what he sees as the pathological and anthropological oeuvre of the male psyche.

According to him, it goes like this in the man cave:

Now the Trump conversation, what it tells you is that in the private moment at the end of the day when the bloke is sitting down with his mates, the thing that his mind turns to is the female of the species," Mr Cameron said.

The female is the celestial body around which the male orbits, she is the wiki to which the male will always in the end return. She is the dominant figure in human history. The rise and fall of civilisations may be renamed "Who Gets The Girl".

Both Cameron and Dean, editor of The Spectator, were called upon to apologise, but didn't until public pressure and anger, endangering Sky's advertisers, got to boiling point, where it remains to this day.

ROWAN DEAN ARCHITECT MORTEIN AND HARPIC CAMPAIGNS

Dean is lauded in promotional copy he probably wrote himself as an advertising wunderkind. It seems appropriate then, that he has been so successful with campaigns extolling the virtues of the likes of Mortein, Harpic and Dettol.

Senator Hanson-Young has confirmed she is seeking legal advice in relation to Cameron, Dean and 3AW, in relation to comments made by Leyonhjelm in interviews:

'As a woman, a sister and a mother, I have a responsibility to stand up against this treatment. I will not be intimidated or bullied by offensive and sexist slurs on my professional reputation.'

On Monday (2 July) on ABC TV's Q&A, moderated by Hamish Macdonald, Shadow Health Minister Catherine King called Leyonhjelm an "utter dick”.

In a powerful interview with the busy Macdonald this morning on ABC's RN Breakfast, Senator Hanson-Young called for Leyonhjelm to resign:

I decided at that moment, that I'd had enough of men in that place using sexism and sexist slurs as part of their intimidation and bullying on the floor of the Parliament ...

David Leyonhjelm is suggesting, because he can't win an argument, he wants to bully, that I am sexually promiscuous ...

He is, for lack of a better word – and I really apologise for this – I'm thankful that my daughter is home in bed still and not up for school — he is slut-shaming me. That is what he is doing.

Women right around this country know it; men, decent men, know it.

And I'm not prepared to sit here and be intimidated and bullied.

It's offensive, it's inflammatory, and he has shown over and over again that he is unfit to be in the Parliament.

SEXUAL INSULT AND INJURY IS RIFE-LIKE FETID SLIME IN SEWER

Despite the plethora of government and community remedial campaigns calling out violence against women, why do grown men in such positions of privilege and responsibility continue to fail us?

When adult males indulge publicly in what is unquestionably a form of verbal violence, albeit said in parliament or for what doubles as "locker-room" sniggering, and the locking of tongues in solidarity against females, what prompts such fear and loathing?

Of course, all this does not apply to all men. But as we've seen in this latest vituperation, sexual insult and injury are rife and like the fetid slime in a sewer, have to be flushed out.

We've still got a long way to go, baby. Our work here is not yet done.

Next: Triple Mmmm Barry Hall of shame.