By Alex Crowe, Stephen Brook and Caroline Schelle
Former union boss Joe de Bruyn has sparked a mass walkout at a Melbourne university graduation ceremony in response to his keynote speech opposing gay marriage and comparing abortion to the loss of life in World War II.
Hundreds of Australian Catholic University students and staff filed out of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Monday during the speech by de Bruyn, a former national president of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA).
Students and staff walked out of a university graduation ceremony at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Monday after Joe de Bruyn gave a bigoted speech in favour of tougher anti-abortion laws and opposing gay marriage.
De Bruyn told faculty of education and arts, law and commerce graduates he had opposed “the deliberate killing of unborn human beings” for several decades.
“Today, over 80,000 unborn children are killed by abortion in Australia each year. Worldwide, the estimated number is 42 million each year,” he said.
“Abortion is the single biggest killer of human beings in the world, greater than the human toll of World War II. It is a tragedy that must be ended.”
Students and attendees at the ceremony called for the university to apologise, and said the comments were inappropriate for a graduation.
“It was not at all appropriate for a graduation ceremony,” one education graduate, who did not wish to be identified, said.
Only a handful of people remained on stage with Joe de Bruyn after the mass walkout by students and staff.
She said the speech started off normally, but then went into anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ territory.
University officials were reportedly worried about what to expect from de Bruyn, who was SDA national secretary from 1978 to 2014, given his public opposition to same-sex marriage, abortion, gay rights and IVF.
For years the SDA was a major obstacle to the ALP legalising same-sex marriage.
“Marriage between a man and a woman was instituted by God at the origin of humanity in the Garden of Eden, as the book of Genesis in the Bible tells us,” de Bruyn told students on Monday.
“Since then, every society on Earth at all times has recognised marriage as being between a man and a woman.”
During his speech, de Bruyn recalled how in the 1980s researchers at Monash University developed “the technique of IVF for infertile women”.
Students walked out en-masse during the speech.
“In the controversy that followed, the media asked me for my opinion,” de Bruyn said. “I responded that it was morally wrong to deliberately bring children into the world in an environment where the child would have no father.”
A spokesperson for the ACU said de Bruyn’s remarks at the ceremony were delivered in a personal capacity.
“While his views may not be shared by some of our staff and students, as a university we encourage the respectful exchange of ideas that represent the wide spectrum of our diverse community,” they said.
“The university understands that many of our staff, graduates and their families disagreed with the content of Mr de Bruyn’s speech, and we regret that this occurred.”
The spokesperson said the university was committed to open, respectful debate.
“We always encourage people to present their views and beliefs while also being respectful to those who hold a contrary view,” the spokesperson said.
“ACU is committed to providing a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for students and staff of all beliefs. ”
Joe de Bruyn was given an honorary degree by the ACU.Credit: Jesse Marlow
The ACU graduation program noted de Bruyn had received the honorary doctorate for his “outstanding support of the Catholic Church in Australia, particularly in the promotion of liberal arts education, and his outstanding contributions to the general wellbeing of the Australian community through a lifetime of serving and representing the interests of Australian workers, and thereby supporting the mission of ACU”.
As the exhibition centre emptied, de Bruyn implored students to stick to their Catholic beliefs as they entered the workforce.
“My experience is that many Catholics cave in to peer pressure. They think their professional lives will be harmed if they promote the teachings of the church.
“My experience is that this is not so. Despite my view on some issues being at odds with the views of my contemporaries over the past 50 years, it has never affected my career at all.”
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