Lisa Wilkinson defends Grace Tame after her Project co-host Peter van Onselen and others labelled her rude

Lisa Wilkinson has defended Grace Tame who has come under fire from some including The Project’s co-host Peter van Onselen.

The Project’s Lisa Wilkinson has come to the defence of Australian of the Year Grace Tame, saying her imprint on the country will be “felt for generations to come”.

Ms Tame was criticised after a tense moment was captured with Prime Minister Scott Morrison before a morning tea for this year’s Australian of the Year finalists.

The 27-year-old was seen looking unimpressed as Mr Morrison and his wife Jenny stood for photos with other people as she waited to enter the event.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny with Grace Tame, who appeared to be uncomfortable with the meeting.

“Hello Grace,” the Prime Minister was then heard saying.

“G’day,” she responded.

“How are you going? Congratulations on the engagement,” Mr Morrison continued.

“Thank you,” Ms Tame said, not making eye contact with the Prime Minister.

Some, including Wilkinson’s Project co-host Peter van Onselen, labelled the sexual assault survivor “immature” and “rude”.

However, Wilkinson shared a late night message on Instagram saying her stint as Australian of the Year “gives so many of us hope for the future”.

“Grace, thank you for making noise … just like you promised you would,” she wrote.

Peter van Onselen slammed the footage of Ms Tame meeting the Prime Minister at his residence as “embarrassing, for her that is”.

“She was ungracious, rude and childish, refusing to smile for the cameras, barely acknowledging his existence when standing next to him. The footage tells the story free of overstatement,’’ he wrote in The Australian.

“She didn’t have to play the role of court jester, or be a fake. Just be a decent human being, that’s all. If that wasn’t possible, why bother to attend at all? At his Canberra house no less. It isn’t like the person who lives there wasn’t going to be there.

Lisa Wilkinson commended the friendship and solidarity between Brittany Higgins (left) and Grace Tame.

Ms Tame hit back at critics, uploading a short video of her standing outside the Lodge in Canberra and saying that she was “surprised they let me in.”

Reflecting on her extraordinary year in the position, Ms Tame said she was “standing on the shoulders of giants”.

She spoke of continuing her campaign to end sexual abuse against children and others through education and legal reform.

Australian of the year Dylan Alcott greets Grace Tame at the 2022 Australian of the Year Awards at the National Arboretum in Canberra, Australia.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank the people of Australia who have been continuing this conversation for a such a long time and for embracing the message last year,” she said.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you. It’s a team effort.”