GetUp pulls ad depicting a fake Tony Abbott refusing to save a person drowning
Tony Abbott, John Howard, Bill Shorten and, now, Zali Steggall have all lashed left-wing activist GetUp for its “appalling” and “stupid” attack ad depicting Mr Abbott as a budgie smuggler-wearing lifesaver refusing to rescue a drowning swimmer. GetUp pulled the ad and was forced to apologise.
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Tony Abbott, John Howard, Bill Shorten and, now, Zali Steggall have all slammed left-wing activists GetUp for its “appalling” and “stupid” attack ad depicting Mr Abbott as a budgie smuggler-wearing lifesaver refusing to rescue a drowning swimmer from the surf.
Left-wing GetUp apologised today and removed the controversial ad from YouTube. It came after The Daily Telegraph revealed last night Royal Life Saving Society chief Justin Scarr condemned the attack ad as “poor taste”.
“There’s nothing funny about drowning, the ad is very poor taste, especially in such a tragic week,” Mr Scarr said.
Mr Abbott said GetUp owes an apology to all of Australia’s surf lifesavers.
“Forget me, but GetUp should apologise to Australia’s 150,000 plus surf lifesavers for mocking what they do,” Mr Abbott tweeted.
Speaking at the Mosman Rowing Club earlier today, he added: “Look, I think it’s a pretty embarrassing day for GetUp. The less said about GetUp the better.”
Warringah candidate Ms Steggall said today: “I don’t approve of that kind of advertising I think you need to focus on policies and not smear campaigns in relation to people.
“So I thought that was of quite poor taste.
“I saw it earlier this morning, I thought it was of poor taste especially when my heart goes out to the people on the south coast with the recent tragedy of the lifesavers.
“They do such a huge contribution to keeping the beaches safe.”
Asked if she had spoken to GetUp! about keeping the campaign clean, she added: “I don’t have anything to do with GetUp! so I’m not speaking to them.
“It is really nothing to do with me but I really don’t approve of any of those tactics.”
Former prime minister John Howard also slammed it as “disgraceful”.
Mr Howard said the “appalling” ad was highly offensive to Mr Abbott, who volunteers as a firefighter and surf lifesaver.
“I thought that was outrageous to suggest a man who has given years of his life to volunteer organisations would allow somebody to drown while he sat there and sneered at it and made some clever remarks,” Mr Howard said.
“I think that was an appalling ad and it was inserted by GetUp and they are fellow travellers with the Labor Party in this election. That was absolutely contemptible that advertisement.
“Tony Abbott, whatever you may think of him — people don’t like him, people don’t like me, that’s politics — but nobody can deny his genuine commitment to community service in firefighting and as a lifesaver.
“To depict him as somebody who would sit on the beach and allow somebody to drown is absolutely unacceptable and it was a disgrace to Australian politics that it ever appeared.”
Mr Abbott condemned the ad at Mosman Rowing Club where he was making a funding announcement with Sports Minister Bridget McKenzie.
Ms McKenzie, a former lifesaver, also said she was “quite offended” by the GetUp video.
She believes it shows how out of touch the organisation is with everyday Australians given the drowning tragedies over the Easter weekend.
“Anyone that has the honour of serving as a lifesaver to see the cap being used in that way assuming that any lifesaver would turn their back on somebody in trouble in the water is appalling,” Ms McKenzie said.
GetUp pulled the advert from YouTube this morning and posted a statement to Twitter.
“We have the greatest respect for Australia’s lifesavers and apologise for the insensitivity of the timing and subject matter of our planned ad,” GetUp said.
“We have heard the criticism of the Royal Lifesavers and are pulling our satirical ad about Tony Abbott’s inaction on climate change, which was slated to be airing in cinemas next week. We will be replacing it with a more literal ad concept featuring the footage of Tony Abbott laughing along with Peter Dutton about “water lapping at [the] door” of the Pacific Islands due to rising sea levels.”
Mr Abbott, in a battle to keep his northern beaches seat of Warringah, was depicted by an actor in the activist group’s latest attack on him over climate change.
In the ad, the Mr Abbott character was seen eating an onion in a beach chair when someone rushes up to him and appeals to him to save the person.
The clip, which GetUp was using to solicit donations and was authorised by the group’s chief Paul Oosting, opened with a hand reaching above a wave and a person shouting: “Help!”
A woman rushes to Mr Abbott’s character to tell him “someone’s drowning”.
The Abbott character responded: “I think you’ll find the science isn’t settled on that” while he bites the onion, mocking both Mr Abbott on the subject of climate change and also his eating an onion at a Tasmanian farm in 2015.
The woman implored him to “do something” but the Abbott character said: “Why should we act first. I think I have given you the response you deserve.”
The swimmer disappears under the water and the actor imitated Mr Abbott’s laugh.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten also slammed the attack on Mr Abbott as “stupid” and “disrespectful”.
“I think it’s a really stupid ad and grossly disrespectful to 150,000 surf lifesavers,” he said.
“In terms of GetUp, they’re independent from us. Some of the stuff they say I haven’t agreed with, some of the stuff in the past I have. But this ad is well out of line. You can have your disagreements with Tony Abbott but I respect the fact that he he’s a surf lifesaver.”
GetUp responded to criticism last night with a claim 250,000 people would die each year from climate change.
The YouTube video was immediately criticised by viewers for mocking a person drowning, a cause of death that claimed 249 lives in Australia last year.
“No surprise the grubs at GetUp think that it’s funny to mock lifesavers and other volunteers only one day after two lifesavers drowned in an accident,” one user wrote on YouTube.
Royal Life Saving Society chief Justin Scarr said the video was extremely inappropriate and insensitive, coming after Victorian father and son lifesavers drowned trying to rescue a tourist at Port Campbell.
“I will leave the politics to others but feel compelled to call it out for what it is, on behalf of the families of the 250 Australians who drowned over the past year,” he said.
In an extraordinary defence, a GetUp spokesman referenced climate change deaths while insisting it has “the greatest respect for Australia’s lifesavers”.
“This ad is about Tony Abbott’s callous inaction on climate change,” the statement said.
“The World Health Organisation warns the annual death toll from climate change will reach 250,000 a year, yet Tony Abbott was caught on tape laughing with Peter Dutton about ‘water lapping at (the) door’ of the Pacific Islands.”
Mr Abbott has recently thrown his support behind the Paris Agreement, saying he believes in backing efforts to reduce emissions by 26 per cent by 2030.
A spokesman for independent Warringah candidate Zali Steggall said she had not seen the ad. She has repeatedly denied any links to GetUp.
Ms Steggall last night refused to say whether she supported the tactic but earlier on Tuesday she told The Daily Telegraph Mr Abbott’s stance on climate change was a “major concern” to voters.
“The Coalition’s lack of climate change action and policy is a major concern for the people of Warringah, who no longer want to be represented by someone who labelled global warming ‘absolute crap’ and said it was ‘probably doing good’.”
Viewers responded to the ad with mixed reviews with some suggesting it was “seriously lazy” and criticising the use of lifesavers while others thought it was “hilarious”.
“I’m no fan of Abbott, but this is a seriously lazy ad that won’t convince anyone to vote against him,” one person wrote on the YouTube clip.
“Can’t be nice for GetUp members to know their money is being pissed against a wall like this.”
Another suggested the ad was offensive to lifesavers.
“No surprise the grubs at getup think that its funny to mock lifesavers and other volunteers only one day after two lifesavers drowned in an accident,” he wrote.
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