Albanese Dismissed Accusations He Lied At Sunday’s Rally, But Organisers Tell A Different Story

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was subject to a scathing statement from organisers of the protests calling for an end to violence against women on Sunday after he claimed they refused him the opportunity to speak. Now, he’s dismissed the backlash to his alleged lie as the result of an “emotional day” for women. You can’t make this stuff up, folks.

Thousands of people gathered across the country to protest gender-based violence over the weekend, after 32 women were killed in just four months this year.

Anthony Albanese was in attendance at the Canberra rally, alongside Minister for Women Katy Gallagher. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his presence was not appreciated by some members of the crowd — his government has made little progress in ending men’s violence against women in Australia, with the average number of women being killed per week in Australia actually higher than last year.

How Albanese responded to the hecklers, however, has resulted in even more outrage. After being called out by the crowd, the prime minister claimed that he and Gallagher had asked to be able to speak at the rally — but were told by organisers that this wouldn’t be possible.

“That’s fine, I respect the organisers right to do that,” he can be heard saying in footage of the moment. In the background, rally organiser Sarah Williams can be heard saying “that’s a flat out lie” before bursting into tears.

Williams, who is the founder of non-profit What Were You Wearing? which fights to end sexual violence, took to Instagram after the rally and accused Albanese of being “aggressive” and “scaring” organisers into allowing him a platform at the rally.

“The Prime Minister of Australia lied to this country today,” she alleged in a statement.

She claimed that Albanese’s office “made it clear” that he would not be speaking at the rally and was only attending as a supporter.

“For him to not only demand he speak because he was being heckled, but lie, was disgraceful. He demonstrated today what entitlement looks like. A man with power trying to diminish a vulnerable young woman,” she wrote.

“To have him hear my lived experience, see my vulnerability and then have the audacity to lie was appalling. I [burst] into tears right next to him. The fact that [Albanese] continued to speak and didn’t mentioned me once nor apologise was appalling.”

Williams accused Albanese of getting on stage and “listing” his achievements as a means of saving himself from the crowd, instead of committing to real change by agreeing to the protest organisers’ demands.

Albanese, however, has dismissed Williams frustrated response to his comments as just the result of an “emotional” day.

“I’m focused on the issue [of family violence] … it was an emotional day for people and I get that. It is an emotional issue, because women were saying yesterday ‘enough is enough’,” he told Today.

Senator Gallagher also defended Albanese, who she said “deeply cares” about survivors of domestic violence.

“I think the rally expected to hear from their prime minister, so he stood up and spoke,” she said, per ABC News.

“I can’t think of another prime minister who spent a couple of hours, one hour walking and the rest of the time listening to speakers, he was there as a sign of solidarity, he wanted to show he was deeply interested and cared.”

Anthony Albanese has called an urgent national cabinet meeting for Wednesday, which he says will focus on making a “practical difference”.

Let’s see how much of the meeting will result in actual steps to protect women, empower survivors and support vulnerable men falling through the cracks — and how much of it will just be damage control.

Image: ABC / Lisa Maree Williams for Getty