Caleb Bond: Grace Tame should not have gone to The Lodge if she didn’t want to see the PM

Grace Tame was one of the most deserving Australians of the Year in a long time – but her disrespect of the PM will only distract from her important message.

It is a shame that Grace Tame’s tenure as Australian of the Year would end with her giving the Prime Minister the stink-eye outside his home.

Her refusal to look Scott Morrison in the eye and reluctance to shake his hand was petulant and her furious glance in front of the cameras even worse.

There were few people happier than I when Ms Tame was named Australian of the Year.

Her strength as a survivor of sexual abuse is immense and her advocacy for other survivors is extremely valuable.

As someone who has seen up close the lifelong ramifications of such abuse, the fact she was elevated to one of our country’s highest honours makes me proud to be Australian.

It was Ms Tame’s work, with journalist Nina Funnell, that helped overturn archaic Tasmanian laws that prevented survivors like her from being able to tell and own their stories.

Scott Morrison copping the stink-eye from Grace Tame. Picture: Gary Ramage

Without her, abuse victims in Tasmania would likely still be suffering an ongoing form of abuse – never being able to say what happened to them in the perverted name of their own protection.

Which it is why it is so disappointing to see her behave as she did.

Because Ms Tame does not just represent herself. She represents the powerful message she spreads about sexual abuse.

Her performance today, rightly or wrongly, will distract from that message.

A group of people who hate Scott Morrison will no doubt love it. Others, who idolise the man, will call for her head. And then you are left with a group into which I think many of us fit – those who believe the office of Prime Minister should be shown respect.

Ms Tame knew what she was doing. The cameras were hardly hidden.

Grace Tame reluctantly shaking the Prime Minister’s hand. Picture: Gary Ramage

I have met many people with whom I have furiously disagreed, perhaps even a few I’ve intensely disliked.

I have always shaken their hands and looked them in the eye. Sometimes, I have sat down to dinner with them.

It is the polite and decent thing to do, regardless of whether you are male or female.

No one is under any obligation to like the PM. But it is courteous to treat them with respect, particularly when visiting their home.

Political opponents do it all the time because it is the right thing to do.

The Prime Minister, regardless of his or her political stripes, deserves a certain level of respect.

The honourable – and potentially more powerful – course of action had Ms Tame not wanted to attend would have been to decline the invitation.

Her absence would have been noticed without the disrespectful theatre.

Originally published as Caleb Bond: Grace Tame should not have gone to The Lodge if she didn’t want to see the PM