Anti-gay ‘joke in poor taste’ forces ACT Labor MP to resign as whip
A gay slur that has been described as “really bad David Brent style humour” has ended up costing ACT Labor backbencher John Hargreaves his position as government whip after a Liberal MP, Alistair Coe, alerted the media to the incident which occurred 18 months ago.
Coe this week revealed to The Canberra Times that Hargreaves, a former minister and considered to be a political veteran, had in August 2010 sent him a note across the Legislative Assembly chamber containing a “homophobic” message while ACT Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr was speaking during a session.
“Stromlo is a park for mountain bikes, not for mount ‘in men,” the note reads according to The Canberra Times.
Hargreaves (pictured) resigned overnight following the newspaper's enquiries, admitting that he made a “joke in bad taste” but denied that he was homophobic.
“The note is a joke in poor taste and it shows a lack of judgment.
“My record on supporting the rights of gays, lesbians and others in their fight for equal treatment before the law stretches back over 20 years,” Hargreaves said.
“I’m outraged that the Liberal Party, trying to attack me as some sort of payback, would do it in this manner,” he said.
Earlier this week, Hargreaves was forced to apologise for a recent outburst where he referred to members of the Tuggeranong Community Council as a two-man self-help group for geriatrics.
Coe said that outburst had “jogged” his memory about the note.
“At the time, I found it pretty offensive and I wanted to reflect on it, on what to do about it.
“Other priorities stacked up and to an extent, it got pushed to the bottom of the pile,” Coe said.
“But over the past week or so, some of the things that he has been saying jogged my memory.”
The openly gay Barr, a co-convener of Rainbow Labor (the ALP’s internal GLBTI caucus), meanwhile said that he only found out about the note yesterday following Coe’s revelations to the newspaper.
“Perhaps the Canberra Liberals could turn their new found concern about homophobia into some support for marriage equality,” Barr said.
“First I knew about it was yesterday. The note wasn't funny - reminded me of something you might see in a scene from the TV show The Office. Really bad David Brent style humour. John did the only right thing by resigning.”
- Tags: ACT, Alistair Coe, Andrew Barr, Gay Slur, John Hargreaves, Labor, Liberal, Note, Politics, Rainbow Labor, SX
About the Author
Serkan Ozturk
Serkan Ozturk became a journalist after failing as a minor poet. Known amongst some circles as the ‘Van Wilder of the High Arts’ it took Serkan almost a decade of studying at three of Sydney’s major universities before finally attaining a single, much vaunted Communication degree from that bastion of Brutalist architecture – the University of Technology, Sydney.
When not being investigated by the NSW Police Commissioner for crimes against satire, Serkan can be found on his bike or generally looking for the next big story.
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Comments (3)
Seriously Alistair Coe, who really cares, if it were really that big of a deal you should've said something about it 18 months ago. I don't think John Hargreaves should have resigned over this.
Resigning over a stupid remark that was sent as a private remark? Is there more to this story?
It does seem petty and opportunistic on Coe's part, but it does send the message that casual homophobic comments are as politically deadly as racism and sexism. It's another step along the road to people understanding that it's not ok.