Lisa Wilkinson slams gender pay gap as she reveals more about her life after Today
LISA Wilkinson has launched a thinly veiled attack on former employer Channel Nine and declared women are ‘fed up’ with the gender pay gap.
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LISA Wilkinson has slammed the workplace boys’ club in what appeared to be a pointed attack on her former employer Channel 9.
The former Today show host also hit out at the gender pay gap and said it remained well and truly alive among the nation’s workforce — but despite these attacks she would not discuss her shock departure from Channel 9 and defection to rival Channel 10.
“The insidious and omnipresent boys club, and take it from me that still exists, but it has to stop,’’ she said as she addressed more than 700 people at the Telstra Business Women’s Awards in Melbourne yesterday.
“Personally I can feel change happening, but in many ways we have Donald Trump that self-confessed pussy-grabber to thank for it.
“Women around the world are rising up, we want change, the Harvey Weinsteins of this world can run but fortunately they can no longer hide.”
Wilkinson criticised the gender pay gap, saying women are “fed up” with not getting the same salaries as their male counterparts.
“You can see women have had enough — the gender pay gap, domestic violence, homelessness is on a huge rise in this country particularly for women over 50,’’ she told News Corp ahead of the event.
“There are already enough hurdles out there that we have to jump and forces against us that make the fact we are mere female more challenging,’’ she said.
“We have so many issues we need to address and I think women are really feeling the power and the wind behind them right now.”
Since her shock departure from the Today Show, she said she’d be enjoying her sleep-ins and life after the show.
“It’s heavenly, I’ve discovered I love sleep, I never had a problem sleeping and I’m just getting a lot more of these days and it feels great,’’ Wilkinson said.
Reports claimed the 57-year-old was furious she was not getting the same $2 million-a-year pay cheque as co-host Karl Stefanovic — she was reported as earning almost half that at $1.1 million.
Wilkinson said she “had plenty keeping her busy” including her recent trip to the US where last week spent time in Los Angeles and was MC at a star-studded event with Hollywood’s elite at the inaugural Fred Hollows gala dinner in Los Angeles.
She said while 2017 didn’t start off well for the world, women had come a long way this year.
“In 2017, it’s a year that didn’t start out with a lot of promise with having someone like Donald Trump in power in the greatest seat of power in the world,’’ Wilkinson said.
“Ironically and fascinatingly, it’s rallied women with the Women’s March, the biggest Women’s March ever seen in history and women are rising up.
“You look at the whole Harvey Weinstein situation in America — it’s all just about to break here with the work Tracey Spicer and Kate McClymont are doing.”
Wilkinson declined to comment on her new contract with employer Channel 10 and what her new job would entail in the new year.
Speculation surrounds her replacement on Today, with hints she could be replaced by co-hosts Georgie Gardner and Deborah Knight.
Originally published as Lisa Wilkinson slams gender pay gap as she reveals more about her life after Today