Kerri-Anne Kennerley on Don Burke: ‘There are a whole bunch of people involved’

KERRI-ANNE Kennerley has claimed that Don Burke isn’t the only former Nine star guilty of sexual harassment, saying, “there are a whole bunch of people involved”.

DON Burke isn’t the only one.

That’s according to Kerri-Anne Kennerley who revealed that “there are a whole bunch of people” who sexually harassed women in the TV industry.

Speaking to Triple M Adelaide’s Roo and Ditts show to promote her new book, A Bold Life, Kennerley gave her take on Don Burke who she’s known for many years.

“I’ve done several stories with him, two in my home in various times,” the TV star said.

“There wasn’t any question his language was appalling. I’m not a shrinking violet ... but to me he always was just that little bit worse.

“It was the language school of Kerry Packer and it went downhill from that. All of his executives spoke the same way and they were all colourful. But Don, sometimes, was just a little bit more.”

Numerous women have come forward in the past few days claiming they were sexually harassed by Don Burke whose show, Burke’s Backyard, was a ratings powerhouse on Kerry Packer’s Nine Network.

“A lot of us knew but in those days there were a lot of men who did push the envelope,” Kennerley said on Triple M.

“Boys will be boys. But many of us in that era drew a line in the sand and said: ‘Watch my lips. Do that again and I will hit you!’

“The simple answer was, that was an era. It was all going on for young and old. There are a whole bunch of people involved, but that said, it was part of an era.

“I’m not trying to justify it,” Kennerley said. “It has to be dragged out now because no young woman should ever have to put up with that.”

Don Burke addressed the claims on A Current Affair and admitted that at times he “wasn’t a nice person”. But he denied he crossed the line.

“I’m not that man at all,” he said. “Some of these things are despicable. It is not that a man should never say to a woman, it’s that no one should say it.”

Don Burke being interviewed on A Current Affair by Tracey Grimshaw. Picture: ACA/Channel 9.

Two former Nine executives made the extraordinary decision to speak publicly about Burke, with former network CEO David Leckie telling Fairfax, “I’ve been trying to think of Harvey Weinstein-type people [in Australia] and the only one I can ever come up with is Burke.

“He was a horrible, horrible man.”

Another former Nine Network CEO, Sam Chisholm, told Fairfax, “Don Burke was a disgrace because of his behaviour internally and externally”.

It’s unusual for such media heavyweights to speak so candidly about a former star, but Kennerley explained on Triple M why they probably decided to speak out.

“They’re saying he’s a horrible person simply because he used to give them strife when he’d go in and try and renegotiate more money every year,” Kennerley said.

“They hated that. He was a bully with them as well as everyone else.”

According to The Daily Telegraph, Kerry Packer once personally called Don Burke and ordered him to behave after Olympic swimmer Susie O’Neill lodged a formal complaint against the TV presenter.

“You can imagine how colourful that was,” Kennerley said about the phone call.

“He [Kerry Packer] would be one of the few people who could yank on Don Burke’s chain.”