‘Bogan Halloween’: Comedian continues vile tirade against Anzac Day

Last year it was Yassmin Abdel-Magied who was slammed for disrespecting Anzac Day, but it looks like a Melbourne-based comedian isn’t backing down with her shock claims against the sombre date on the Australian calendar.

On Tuesday, just hours before people across Australia and New Zealand came together to remember fallen soldiers who lost their lives in the war, 50-year-old Catherine Deveny took to Twitter with a series of insulting and vile messages.

According to her, Australian society has no right using the word “serve” when referring to the actions of soldiers in the war.

“Why do people in the armed forces use the word ‘serve’ to describe their work despite it being no more dangerous or prone to upheaval than many other jobs?” she asked. “It’s just a job and work. Throw the term ‘serve’ in the bin. It’s part of the fetishisation of war and violence.”

Understandably, the message was met with plenty of backlash, but it only seemed to encourage Deveny to continue with her insults. She claimed many men and women who lost their lives were “sucked in with glamour of war and racism under the guise of patriotism”. She also said soldiers were “uneducated” and “ignorant”.

Deveny, who regularly appears on the ABC, wasn’t done there. She said Australians were under the illusion they were entitled to free speech.

“One of the thing that ANZAC day brings up is the hilarious notion that Australians have fought for our right to free speech,” she said on Twitter. “Australians do not have the right to free speech. Australians who have worked in the violence industry have fought wars to suck up to the US and British.”

She also described Anzac Day as “Bogan Halloween”, despite receiving backlash online. In one tweet, she said she had been threatened with rape for her views.

“Show Some Respect = Shut The F*** Up Or I’ll Threaten To Rape You #AnzacDay,” she tweeted.

One person asked Deveny why she didn’t volunteer her public holiday Wednesday to charity, to which she replied: “I volunteer every Wednesday regardless of jingoistic death festivals”.

Another tweet read: “This poor woman obviously has mental health issues. Best to just ignore, like most did prior to the last 24 hours”.

A further comment added: “It must be that time of year again. When you try to convince yourself that you are somehow relevant by tweeting more uneducated rubbish about ANZAC day, and serving members of the ADF. It’s easy to post crap to get a reaction. Certainly a lot easier than serving one’s country”.

On her website, Deveny describes herself as a writer, comedian, author and social commentator. She’s appeared in an array of comedy shows including The Wedge, skitHOUSE and Full Frontal.

Despite what Deveny thinks, thousands of Australians have showed up to events across the country, with many seeing an increase in numbers from previous years.

What do you think? Are people such as Catherine Deveny entitled to their opinions, no matter how controversial they are?