Sarah Hanson-Young rejects Senator David Leyonhjelm’s list of demands for an apology

DAVID Leyonhjelm denies he is “slut-shaming” Sarah Hanson-Young and says he’s found a video that proves his point.

DAVID Leyonhjelm has unearthed a past video of Senator Sarah Hanson-Young that he says shows her making comments similar to those he took offence to.

The Liberal Democrat senator has been under fire after telling Ms Hanson-Young to “stop shagging men” during a debate in the Senate about his proposal to let women carry pepper spray and mace.

Mr Leyonhjelm has said his comment was in response to misandry from the Greens senator and while he can’t remember her exact words, he said they implied all men were rapists.

While there is no record of the exact exchange in the Senate, Mr Leyonhjelm has unearthed an interview from last month that he says illustrates Ms Hanson-Young’s offensive attitude.

“What she did — in effect — was say that all men are rapists, that all men are responsible for Eurydice (Dixon). That was essentially what I was reacting to in the chamber — words along the same lines,” Mr Leyonhjelm told news.com.au.

However, the interview with Sunrise and posted to Ms Hanson-Young’s Facebook page on June 18, shows she did not say or imply that message.

The Greens senator was describing the vandals of a memorial dedicated to Eurydice Dixon, a Melbourne woman who was raped and murdered last month, as “idiots” and “morons”.

She went on to say that the bigger issue was the treatment of girls and women.

“What on Earth is going on in this country when women cannot walk home safely … I think it is really time that we confront this,” Ms Hanson-Young said.

“As parents we need to teach our sons and our boys in our families to respect girls and women, and we need to make sure that we call out lewd behaviour and sexist behaviour when we see it.”

In particular Mr Leyonhjelm pointed out two comments made by Ms Hanson-Young as illustrating his point: “I think women around this country are sick and tired of being made to feel responsible for the fact that men cannot control themselves and deal with their own issues,” Ms Hanson-Young said.

“It is not women’s fault that men behave like morons and like pigs, it is time that these people are held to account and we call out this type of behaviour.”

What do you think? Watch the video below.

Even though the video does not depict Ms Hanson-Young saying all men are rapists, Mr Leyonhjelm believes it does and he also continues to reject her denials that she said this in the Senate.

In previous interviews Ms Hanson-Young has said: “I did not say those words, I did not infer those words, I do not believe those words and it is a lie”.

Ms Hanson-Young has previously said her original comment was made during debate on whether restrictions on tasers should be relaxed and was along the lines of: “putting tasers on the street is not going to keep women safe from men”.

She didn’t support the motion and when it was clear it wasn’t going to pass, she alleges Mr Leyonhjelm yelled across the chamber: “Well now you have to stop shagging men, Sarah”.

When asked whether his reaction was too personal, regardless of what he thought Ms Hanson-Young said, Mr Leyonhjelm told news.com.au: “I think you’re being way too precious. If you’re a woman of 36, unless you’re celibate, it might be a reasonable assumption that you’re shagging men occasionally.

“It’s a legitimate assumption and I simply made that assumption.”

Mr Leyonhjelm said accusing men of having “collective guilt” for attacking and raping women was “quite bizarre” — “given the fact that she doesn’t think all men are reprehensible”.

He denies knowing about any slurs and innuendo that Ms Hanson-Young says has been directed at her previously in the Senate. Or that he was “slut-shaming” her with his comments.

“I don’t get that, I don’t know what I’ve said that would justify that,” Mr Leyonhjelm said.

“I’m getting many message from women that are adamant she does not speak for women”.

HE’LL APOLOGISE IF CONDITIONS ARE MET

Mr Leyonhjelm has hit back at criticism of his remarks and reportedly called Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull “a pussy” for calling for an apology

Mr Turnbull said he couldn’t remember similar language in parliament and it was not too late for Mr Leyonhjelm to withdraw his remarks.

“It was clearly offensive, it should have been withdrawn and apologised for. It’s not too late for him to do so now,” Mr Turnbull told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has also urged Senator Leyonhjelm to say sorry. “Every day it goes on he adds hurt to injury,” Mr Shorten told reporters in Caboolture.

But Mr Leyonhjelm told The Australian: “Malcolm should stop being such a pussy”.

He previously said he would apologise but only if Ms Hanson-Young agreed to make several public statements.

Ms Hanson-Young today rejected his conditions saying “he’s slut-shaming me”.

She has sent a lawyer’s letter to Mr Leyonhjelm and today made clear she would not back down.

“I have a responsibility now, I have a responsibility to call this for what it is,” Ms Hanson-Young told ABC radio today.

She said Mr Leyonhjelm had suggested she was “sexually promiscuous”.

“He is — for lack of a better word, and I really apologise for this; I’m thankful that my daughter is home in bed still and not up for school — he’s slut-shaming me,” she said.

“And women right around this country know it, men, decent men know it, and I’m not prepared to sit here and be intimidated.”

Mr Leyonhjelm has provided news.com.au with the list of actions he wants Ms Hanson-Young to undertake before he will apologise.

He said if Ms Hanson-Young announces publicly:

1. She no longer believes men are collectively responsible for the actions of those men who commit violence.

2. She accepts we are each individuals, responsible for our own actions, and cannot blame others.

3. She accepts that women should have a right to carry the means of protecting themselves against violent people (men or women), such as pepper spray and mace.

Mr Leyonhjelm will announce publicly:

1. I have misjudged her.

2. I will forgive her for her previous comments.

3. I will apologise for my previous comments.

It was Ms Hanson-Young’s rejection of his original proposal in the Senate to allow the carrying of mace and pepper spray, started their clash.

FIERY EXCHANGE

Last night Mr Leyonhjelm got into a fiery exchange with ABC’s 7.30 host Virginia Trioli about his comments and accused Trioli of calling him a liar.

Responding to questions about his latest parliamentary stoush with Ms Hanson-Young, he told acting host Trioli, “No woman in my family would accuse all men of being sexual predators”.

Trioli: “Neither did Sarah Hanson-Young. You can’t produce that quote and you are denying it.”

Mr Leyonhjelm: “So you are calling me a liar. Thank you very much.”

He also said: “Do I have to remember every word precisely for it to be true?” To which Trioli replied: “In order to justify a pretty strong comment, yeah, I reckon you do.”

The exchange continued with Trioli accusing Mr Leyonhjelm of being “bitchy when women take you on”.

The feisty interview came after both Ms Hanson-Young and Mr Leyonhjelm criticised one another on Channel 10’s The Project, and the stoush spilt over onto the ABC.

.@DavidLeyonhjelm says he's justified in making his controversial comments about @sarahinthesen8. #abc730 #auspol @LaTrioli pic.twitter.com/crt5yOfJUH

— abc730 (@abc730) July 2, 2018

A defiant Ms Hanson-Young declared on The Project she would “not be bullied”, and vowed to take a stand against Mr Leyonhjelm over “hideous” and “hurtful” comments made towards her in parliament.

Ms Hanson-Young said she had sought the advice of lawyer Rebecca Giles. There are reports Ms Hanson-Young sent legal letters to Mr Leyonhjelm over him telling her last week in the Senate to “stop shagging men”.

“I’m standing up. I’ve decided as a matter of principle, I am not going to take this,” she told The Project.

“I am not going to be intimidated, I am not going to be bullied and I’m in a very principled and privileged position. There are many women out there, whether they are on the factory floor or they are stewards on an airline or they work in the hospitality industry, many women cop sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace and don’t have the ability. I’m doing this for them.

Virginia Trioli puts Senator David Leyonhjelm on the spot in a fiery exchange on 7.30. Picture: ABC

“These comments are offensive, they are inflammatory, and they are all based on a lie. They need to be called out.”

Appearing on the same program, Mr Leyonhjelm denied making comments about Ms Hanson-Young’s private life.

“I am not apologising for anything. I stand by it. I am opposed to double standards,” he said.

“I made no comment whatsoever on her private life, other than that there were two standards being applied.”

He claimed Ms Hanson-Young had said “word to the effect that all men are rapists”, and went on to repeat claims about Ms Hanson-Young’s private life.

In her interview, Ms Hanson-Young denied she had made the statement about men, saying, “I just want to put it really clearly that I never said those comments, I never inferred them, I do not believe them.

“What is clear and what is consistent is his total disrespect. And that’s why I’m standing up.”

Ms Hanson-Young said she had also been motivated to take action because of her daughter Kora.

“I am trying to show her a very clear lesson here. That is that women don’t deserve to be disrespected like this. And especially, not by a member of the parliament. Our parliament should be better,” she said.

Sarah Hanson-Young on The Project. Picture: Channel 10

We ask why senator David Leyonhjelm won’t be apologising for his "sexist" comments and hear senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s response, explaining why she’s speaking out. #auspol #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/KsEFBRccd6

— The Project (@theprojecttv) July 2, 2018

“Our parliament should be the pinnacle of how we engage in respectful debate, and just because you are losing an argument gives no person — whether they are a member of parliament or a commentator or they are somebody in the privacy of backyard discussion over a barbecue — gives nobody the right to treat a woman like that with such sexist slurs just because they couldn’t win the argument on sound facts.”

Earlier, Ms Hanson-Young called on Mr Leyonhjelm to resign over his “reprehensible” comments.

“I believe he has proven himself incapable of showing respect and is unfit to represent not only women, but all decent Australians, in our nation’s parliament,” she said in a statement on Monday.

Mr Leyonhjelm said there was no way he would apologise.

The Greens will try to have Mr Leyonhjelm censured by parliament, with leader Richard Di Natale calling on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to condemn the comments.

— With AAP