Don Burke should possibly be stripped of Order of Australia, Bill Shorten says

Bill Shorten says Governor-General Peter Cosgrove should consider removing the TV gardener of his Order of Australia.

Don Burke and his wife Marea pictured together in 2014.

Bill Shorten says Governor-General Peter Cosgrove should consider stripping Don Burke of his Order of Australia.

The Opposition Leader said the under fire TV gardener’s title should be “looked at” following sexually harassment and indecent assault allegations revealed over the past two days.

“I think it’s something that has to be looked at …. there should be accountability for his behaviour,” Mr Shorten said.

“To the victims who have come forward, and there has been plenty of them, this is not easy to do or to relive or to talk about.”

Yesterday, Mr Shorten labelled the allegations surrounding Burke as “sickening” and “shocking”, saying there was a culture problem if the behaviour was ignored by media executives for decades.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten thinks the Governor-General should consider stripping Don Burke of his Order of Australia.

“I think it is shocking and what you call an open secret I don’t think most Australians did know about this and if it turns out that within the media industry people were happy to accept dollars and ratings and turn a blind eye to the completely wrong and horrendous practices well that is to the shame of the industry,” Mr Shorten told ABC radio yesterday.

“Millions of Australians have watched this show on television and I think they will be shocked by these revelations.’’