Crikey founder Stephen Maybe apologises for article on female politicians

Crikey founder Stephen Mayne has apologised for a ‘sleazy’ article depicting female politicians he published in 2001.

Crikey founder Stephen Mayne. Picture: News Corp.

Crikey founder and former Melbourne City councillor Stephen Mayne has apologised over a controversial article he published in 2001.

The sleazy list of 19 female politicians and staffers in the Bracks Victorian Government, described as “oozing sex and fun” and “very very tasty”, was removed more than 15 years later after one of the women complained.

“It was terrible and should never have been published and I sincerely apologise to the women concerned for doing so,” Mayne said in a statement to The Australian.

The ‘Bracksy’s Babes’ article’s continued existence online was revealed today by the Herald Sun, which reported that Mayne had initially refused to apologise over what he described as a “positive and lighthearted” piece submitted to Crikey by an unnamed Labor staffer.

“It is of course an unfortunate truth that the movers and shakers in business, the media and the public service are predominantly male,” the staffer wrote.

“And what’s the best way to control powerful men? With smart, articulate, energetic and attractive women we’re suckers for them.”

The article listed female politicians and staffers with descriptors such as “every boy’s dream”, “sweet as pie but looks tough as nails”, “feisty Italian honey” and “Beverly Hills 90210 type babe”.

One of the women was described as fitting with “the dominatrix fantasy, powerful, frightening and blonde”, while another was dubbed “very very tasty”.

It concluded by noting that the male staffers in Bracks’ government “fit one or more of the following criteria — over forty, overweight, unattractive, balding”.

Mayne, who has been critical of the Herald Sun’s coverage of sexual harassment allegations against Melbourne’s former lord mayor Robert Doyle, said he had not read the article in 16 years and that it was “far worse than I remembered”.

He said he had removed it soon after publishing and did not know “how or when it subsequently got onto the internet”.

Hadn't read the piece in 16 years when @AneekaSimonis called earlier today. Had a look and it was far worse than I remembered. When you stuff up, say sorry and I'm sorry for publishing it for a couple of hours in 2001 https://t.co/gAKFM68QQz

— Stephen Mayne (@MayneReport) March 14, 2018

“When you stuff up, say sorry and I’m sorry for publishing it for a couple of hours in 2001,” Mayne tweeted.

In the article, the Labor staffer prefaced the list of 19 women by saying that they “deserve to be in the jobs they hold” and that “intellectually they run rings around most other people including me”.

However, he admitted: “The following is cheap, tacky, an assault on woman’s rights and ends up a bit like a racing guide”.

It remains unclear who made the decision to republish, with Crikey insisting its staff had “no knowledge of the story — which was published before Crikey was acquired by its current owners — until it was brought to our attention in late 2017”.

A version of the story remained online until Wednesday afternoon, with the time stamp May 7, 2002.

“We were appalled by it and took the story down immediately, although with 17 years worth of daily content, we were unable to locate and delete other mentions and links to the article,” Crikey publisher Tamsin Creed said in a statement.

“We have done so now. Crikey holds itself to high standards of integrity and anti-discrimination and apologises unreservedly for the hurt caused to the women mentioned in the story.”

One of the women named in the Crikey article, Victorian Labor MP Jane Garrett, said the publication of the list was “a shock to all involved” and “very disrespectful to the many great women” who had made their contribution to the Bracks Government.

“I find Mr Mayne’s initial comments about the list being ‘lighthearted’ and ‘positive’ and not about ‘them having nice legs’ as pretty indicative that not much has changed,” Ms Garrett said.

Mayne had introduced the list by saying: “Before anyone gets outraged, I don’t know the bloke who sent this in but he’s right across all the staffers and this is a good laugh”.

At the end of the story, an editor’s note said: “Crikey is ashamed to say that only 15 per cent of our subscribers are women and running these sorts of stories probably explains why”.

Mayne and his co-founder and wife Paula Piccinini sold Crikey to Private Media for $1 million in 2005.

Crikey founder Stephen Mayne. Picture: Glenn Ferguson.