‘My anger surpassed my fear and terror’: Australian of the Year Grace Tame’s speech in Canberra

“You’re a monster.” Those were the last words Grace Tame said to the teacher who raped her. Now the Australian of the Year has demanded change in a powerful speech. READ THE EDITORIAL >>

FOUR days before Grace Tame went to police, she confronted the man who had raped her.

The 2021 Australian of the Year has told of the day her anger overcame her fear of the 58-year-old maths teacher, Nicolaas Bester, who sexually abused her for six months when she was 15 years old at St Michael’s Collegiate School in Hobart.

In a powerful speech in Canberra on Wednesday, Ms Tame said: “The last words I ever spoke to him were, ‘I think you’re a monster,’ and, ‘I hate you for what you have done to me and what you have done to my family, and what you have done to your family’. And then I reported him to police.”

The 26-year-old said she found her voice “out of anger ... a very necessary anger that helped overcome my fear”.

Grace Tame speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture: Sam Mooy/Getty Images

“I had been up until this point submissive and not really shown any resistance because, as a survivor, you learn that showing resistance will only lead to more pain,” Ms Tame said.

“Then a sort of strange thing happened where my anger surpassed my fear and terror of this man.”

She confronted Bester in his office four days before she went to police, prompted by a desire to protect others and the realisation she had “the potential to stop this thing in its tracks”.

Speaking at the National Press Club, Ms Tame criticised Australian Defence Force chief Angus Campbell for warning young cadets to avoid predators by being aware of the ‘four As’ of alcohol, being out after midnight, alone and attractive.

“I’m not judge, jury and executioner, but that’s not helpful rhetoric at all,” she said.

“That feeds the idea that this is something that a victim has to foresee and stop themselves ... and that is really unhelpful.”

Australian of the Year 2021 Grace Tame at the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture: Gary Ramage

Ms Tame also criticised Prime Minister Scott Morrison for saying he was concerned as “a father” about rape allegations made by former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins.

“It shouldn’t take having children to have a conscience. And ... having children doesn’t guarantee a conscience,” Ms Tame said.

Cover-up culture was not unique to Federal Parliament, she said when asked about the rape and sexual assault allegations that have emerged in the past two and half weeks.

She said “hundreds” of fellow survivors of child sexual abuse had reached out to tell her their stories since she was named Australian of the Year in January.

Ms Tame urged media to be careful in reporting as survivors spoke out, saying the conversation should be about learning from experiences rather than focusing on “sordid details”.

“The cycle of abuse cannot be broken simply by replaying case histories. We cannot afford to back track or else we’ll go around in circles, trapped in a painful narrative, and we’ll all get tired, both as speakers and listeners,” she said.

Ms Tame called for urgent national reforms to create a single definition of consent in every Australian jurisdiction, a focus in schools on teaching children about the “evil” tactics of grooming, and for linguistic changes in laws to accurately describe sexual crimes.

She welcomed progress in overturning gag laws that prevented victims of sexual crimes from speaking in Tasmania, but said they had been in place for only a year and the full benefits may not yet have been seen.

But she added: “There is always room for improvement.”

EDITORIAL: More work to be done

JUST a few hours before Attorney-General Christian Porter fought back the tears to vehemently deny a historic rape allegation, Australian of the Year Grace Tame received a standing ovation at the National Press Club to share harrowing details of the abuse she suffered at the hands of a teacher.

It’s been a confronting period of time for Australians that should force us to reflect sincerely. Ms Tame played a key role in the #LetHerSpeak campaign, which was run through this newspaper to change the state law to allow survivors of sexual abuse to publicly speak about their experience.

Her role as an advocate for sexual abuse survivors led to her being the first Tasmanian to receive the Australian of the Year award. She first chose to tell her story through the Mercury but her voice has now been heard across the country, if not the world. And she is determined to end child sexual abuse and ensure survivors are better supported.

When she talks, people listen.

Grace Tame received a standing ovation at the National Press Club. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins watched Ms Tame accept Australia’s top honour and was inspired to share her own story. Ms Higgins says she was raped by a colleague at Parliament House in March 2019. Her story pierced the Canberra bubble. Then came the details of how the alleged incident was handled (or not handled), then came other allegations from other victims about the same man.

Ms Higgins, who was 24 years old at the time of the alleged assault, said she felt pressured to choose between her career and reporting the allegation to police. She has since made a report to the Australian Federal Police, which will investigate.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison came under fire for an initially lacklustre response to the allegations. He then said a conversation with his wife Jenny asking him to think about his own daughters in that situation helped guide his response.

He announced a government review into the handling of claims but it’s an inside job instead of an independent panel.

Then rumours started to swirl about a historical rape allegation involving an unnamed government Minister. Mr Porter on Wednesday revealed himself to be the politician at the centre of the accusation.

He strenuously denies the claim and police say there is no case to answer.

Also on Wednesday, Australian Defence Force chief General Angus Campbell was slammed for victim-blaming after he told cadets not to make themselves “prey” to sexual predators by being out “alone” at night and “attractive”.

When Australia stopped to hear Ms Tame accept her accolade it felt like a pivotal moment in our nation’s history – a line in the sand and a guiding light for survivors.

Yet the comments from both General Campbell and the fallout from Ms Higgins’ case leave us feeling that there is a long, long way to go to free us of cover-up cultures that allow predators to hide.