Foul-mouthed activist Van Badham centre stage at ALP event

Activist who introduced Bill Shorten at Labor women’s event has a vulgar history.

Bill Shorten, left, and Tanya Plibersek, right, with Van Badham and others at yesterday’s domestic violence policy unveiling. Picture: Twitter

A union and feminist activist who introduced Bill Shorten and Tanya Plibersek at a Labor women’s event in Melbourne has a history of writing vulgar and abusive tweets, where she has attacked John Howard’s mother and then opposition leader Tony Abbott.

Van Badham, best known as a Guardian Australia columnist and regular ABC panellist, hosted the Melbourne event where Labor unveiled its $660 million domestic ­violence policy, and was praised by Ms Plibersek: “How good is Van Badham?”

Ms Badham, who referred to Mr Shorten as “Chloe’s Shorten’s husband”, has used her Twitter ­account to attack political enemies, including a profane post about Mr Howard’s late mother.

“I curse the earth beneath the c..t that spawned John Howard. I spit into the air he breathes,” she tweeted in 2013.

Ms Badham, who is married to the chief of staff to ACTU secretary Sally McManus, said of cabinet minister Greg Hunt on October 23, 2013: “Greg Hunt is an insult to the word “c..t.”

She also tweeted an attack against then opposition leader Mr Abbott: “Yep. A c..t with all the sex appeal of a corpse’s eyehole.”

She disavowed her previous tweets yesterday and said she has “matured” since she posted them.

“I certainly would not say now the vulgar things I said in 2013, nor would I choose to republish them,” she told The Weekend Australian.

“Obviously, my online presence has matured, my position has changed and I am one of the millions of Australians who eagerly await the election of a Shorten Labor government.”

Ms Badham hosted yesterday’s Labor event in her role as chairwoman of the Queen Victoria Women’s Trust but has links to Mr Shorten, Labor and the trade union movement.

Yesterday’s event was intended to showcase Mr Shorten’s attempts to stop domestic abuse and violence in Australia and noted a number of prominent women he is running in key Melbourne seats, including Higgins candidate Fiona McLeod and Deakin candidate Shireen Morris.

Ms Badham often tweets in support of the Labor leader and praised him, Ms Plibersek and Labor Senate leader Penny Wong online yesterday.

“WOW. @billshortenmp announces signature family violence policy; $660 MILLION of funding for frontline and other support services,” she tweeted.

“Every time Penny Wong’s name gets mentioned, there are hoots. The politician as rock star … Tanya Plibersek rocking the red heels.”

Her current support for Mr Shorten has not stopped her from attacking him in the past.

“Look as far as careerist self-promoters with parroted neoliberal values that ultimately f . . k workers over go, I like Shorten,” she tweeted on October 12, 2013.

Victorian Liberal senator Jane Hume yesterday said: “This kind of language used in a public forum is particularly offensive.”

“It’s disappointing that someone with a public platform would use a person’s political beliefs as a basis for personal attacks. The Leader of the Opposition should call out this vile discourse and online bullying,” Senator Hume said.

Labor did not answer questions yesterday on whether Mr Shorten or Ms Plibersek condemned her comments, and whether Ms Badham, who runs a social media consulting business for unions, NGOs and charities, would host future ALP election events.