‘Sick of being told to smile’: Grace Tame defends frosty meeting with Scott Morrison

Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has spoken out about her controversial morning tea with Scott Morrison last week at The Lodge.

Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has spoken out about her controversial meeting with the Prime Minister last week, disputing accusations she acted like a martyr in so-called “gender culture war”.

Ms Tame had a frosty exchange with Scott Morrison at The Lodge during a morning tea for this year’s Australian of the Year finalists, where Ms Tame, 27, looked visibly unimpressed standing next to the PM for a photo before the event.

Ms Tame said the enduring survival of “abuse culture” was dependent on victims and survivors continuing to surrender to coercive behaviours, as she defended her right not to smile.

“The survival of abuse culture is dependent on submissive smiles and self-defeating surrenders. It is dependent on hypocrisy,” she said in a statement on Twitter.

“My past is only relevant to the extent that I have seen — in fact I have worn — the consequences of civility for the sake of civility.

“What I did wasn’t an act of martyrdom in the gender culture war.

“It’s true that many women are sick of being told to smile, often by men, for the benefit of men. But it’s not just women who are conditioned to smile and conform to the visibly rotting status-quo. It’s all of us.”