Rita Panahi: Feminists go missing after Peter Garrett’s ugly attack against Gina Rinehart

The sisterhood, which sees misogyny everywhere, including when Tony Abbott looks at his watch, has failed to call out global warming hysteric Peter Garrett’s hateful attack on Gina Rinehart.

Sanctimonious global warming hysteric Peter Garrett launched an ugly attack against Australia’s most successful businessperson during the Perth Festival on Friday night.

The 71-year-old former Midnight Oil frontman delivered a pitiful diatribe about climate change, Donald Trump and urged the audience to “pretend they’re dancing on Gina Rinehart’s grave”. What a pathetic performance from a has-been against a woman whose contribution to this country dwarfs his relatively meagre output. To think that this prancing clown was elevated by Kevin Rudd to the position of Environment Minister.

Wishing death on a woman who employs thousands, pays more tax than any other Australian and is a generous supporter of numerous charitable causes is hateful and I would argue misogynistic.

Garrett urged the audience to pretend they were dancing on Gina Rinehart’s grave. Picture: Dean Sewell

Garrett did not ask people to imagine they were dancing on Twiggy Forrest’s grave or other billionaire mining figures. He saved his bile for the woman who took a struggling business, beset by all sorts of serious financial issues, and transformed it into a goliath that exports record amounts of iron ore and is one of the country’s biggest corporate taxpayers, last financial year contributing around $3.88bn in federal and state taxes.

And, where is the sisterhood who see misogyny everywhere, including when Tony Abbott looks at his watch, but not when Garrett wishes death upon a prominent woman. The loudest feminists are silent but West Australia’s Labor Premier Roger Cook was quick to slam Garrett noting his comments were “disrespectful and sowing the seeds of hatred”.

Garrett served as Environment Minister under Kevin Rudd. Picture: Roni Bintang

The truth is Gina Rinehart would be a hero amongst feminists, along with the media and activist class, if she were a garden variety Leftie, but because she speaks common sense, because she advocates for policies that would benefit ordinary Australians rather than the Point Piper/Toorak set, she is attacked and maligned.

She receives little credit for the many causes she supports, often without fanfare, from backing athletes to the astonishing work Mrs Rinehart’s foundation does in rescuing impoverished girls in Cambodia, providing them with a safe home, an education and the means to break the cycle of extreme poverty. Let me make it clear that I do not want to ban Garrett from uttering such hateful rhetoric. Indeed, I will defend his right to do so. He’s free to make appalling comments, and I’m free to condemn him for it. Sunlight is always the best disinfectant.

Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist