Grace Tame loses it at Anthony Albanese after he called her out for wearing a ‘disrespectful’ shirt to Australia Day – as she reveals what really happened behind the scenes
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.
Grace Tame 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
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’ and was ‘disrespectful’
‘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.
She described Australia as a ‘spineless colony of the United States’ and accused both Labor and the Coalition of being in hock to the Murdoch-owned Press.
‘When presented with a petition that received more than half a million signatures demanding a royal commission into the Murdoch regime, Anthony Albanese did nothing,’ Ms Tame wrote.
The 2021 Australian of the Year wore a T-shirt emblazoned with ‘F*** Murdoch’ on the front
She added: ‘Anthony’s predictable response to my two-word statement has reinforced just how poisonous Murdoch’s grip on the Western world still is.
‘It’s also revealed that while Australia casts itself as a laidback larrikin, game for a laugh, it is in fact a cowardly cop bought by the illusion of civility politics.’
But Ms Tame, who has just been unveiled as a brand ambassador for Nike, then conceded that Opposition Leader Peter Dutton would be a ‘more dangerous prime minister than Anthony Albanese’.
On Tuesday, Daily Mail Australia revealed that back in December 2019 Ms Tame apparently had no problem being feted by the Murdoch empire.
She was a guest speaker at the company’s internal News Awards, held in a Sydney cinema and hosted by Mr Murdoch’s son Lachlan..
She and the other award recipients received a standing ovation and according to a report in the Mercury, her ‘courageous’ speech left the audience of News and Fox guests in tears.
At the time, Ms Tame thanked all those who had supported Let Her Speak and praised the campaign for driving legal changes which allowed sexual assault victims to tell their stories, saying ‘it takes an army to fight injustice’.
‘This is a very special moment for me,’ she began. ‘It’s hard to believe I’m even here standing in front of you speaking unsilenced.’
Two months earlier, the Tasmanian government had announced it would change laws which prevented sexual assault victims identifying themselves and publicly describing what they had endured.
‘When the media works with the people to inform and serve the greater good we achieve the greater good,’ Ms Tame said. ‘We can change individual lives. We can revolutionise our collective conscience.
‘Together as a team we have made history. The law in Tasmania is being changed. To all those who are still silenced, we say: “Your voice matters. You will be heard. It’s not your fault”.’
Lachlan Murdoch – then co-chairman of News and now in sole control of the media giant – also spoke that evening, commending Ms Tame for her courage.
‘I want to especially thank you, Grace,’ Mr Murdoch said.
‘By joining us here tonight you remind us that the purpose of journalism is not to give journalists a voice but to give people like you a voice, to give truth a voice.’
