Ben Fordham has weighed in on comments made by the Prime Minister’s wife about Grace Tame’s infamous side-eye moment that needed more “manners and respect”.
The 2GB journalist and radio presenter spoke on the Today show on Monday morning, saying he sided with Jenny Morrison.
“I can completely understand where Jenny Morrison’s coming from. I mean, I never quite understood what Jenny Morrison had done to upset or offend Grace Tame,” he said.
“I completely understand where Scott Morrison has been wrong-footed on the issue, continually from the Brittany Higgins matter to Grace Tame and everything else, but the person I felt sorry for the most in this encounter was the Prime Minister’s wife because, let’s face it, she was iced by Grace Tame.
“Jenny Morrison’s never done anything on this issue. She’s an innocent party in all of this.”
Mrs Morrison broke her silence about the moment the Australian of the Year Ms Tame met with her and her husband during an interview with 60 Minutes that aired on Sunday night.
The Morrisons hosted a morning tea at The Lodge in Canberra with the sexual assault victim last month. They engaged in what appeared to be an unfriendly handshake from Ms Tame before she xjmtzywgave an icy glare.
In a polite way, she told the program she wished Ms Tame had more “manners and respect”.
“I just found a little bit disappointing because we were welcoming her in our home,” the mother-of-two said.
“I just wish the focus had been on all the incredible people coming in.
“I respect people that want to change things, stand up for their beliefs, and are strong, but I still think there are manners and respect.”
Following the meeting, Ms Tame defended her right not to smile.
“The survival of abuse culture is dependent on submissive smiles and self-defeating surrenders. It is dependent on hypocrisy,” she said in a statement on Twitter.
“My past is only relevant to the extent that I have seen — in fact I have worn — the consequences of civility for the sake of civility.
“What I did wasn’t an act of martyrdom in the gender culture war.
“It’s true that many women are sick of being told to smile, often by men, for the benefit of men. But it’s not just women who are conditioned to smile and conform to the visibly rotting status quo. It’s all of us.”
