Sarah Hanson-Young has slammed David Leyonhjelm over sexist comments he made to her in chamber, claiming he told her to “stop shagging men” during a debate about the issuing of non-lethal weapons to women as a way of preventing sexual attacks.
The Senator for South Australia called out Senator Leyonhjelm in the Senate on Thursday over comments he made during the earlier session, labelling him a “creep” and admitting she was “disappointed” that he had refused to apologise.
Greens Senator Hanson-Young, 36, told the Senate: “Earlier today, during the motion relating to violence against women, Senator Leyonhjelm yelled an offensive and sexist slur at me from across the chamber. After the vote on the motion was complete, I walked over to the senator and confronted him directly.
Read more: Sarah Hanson-Young doesn’t know why we celebrate Australia Day.
“I asked whether I had heard him correctly. He confirmed that he had yelled, ‘You should stop shagging men, Sarah.’ Shocked, I told him that he was a creep. His reply was to tell me to ‘f… off’. I informed the leader of the Greens, and he has raised it with both Senator Leyonhjelm and the President.
“I am disappointed that the senator has refused to apologise for this offensive and sexist slur, and I call on him to formally withdraw and apologise directly.”
Read more: David Leyonhjelm refuses to apologise for video of him abusing police.
https://twitter.com/SkyNewsAust/status/1012295581522223104
The 66-year-old Liberal Senator justified his comments to Sky News, and confirmed there was “no chance” of him backing down and saying sorry. The New South Wales representative said: “Sarah called out words to the effect of, ‘yeah they should stop raping women’.
“So I responded to her, she didn’t like my response. When the division was over, she came over to me and called me a creep. I told her to go and make love in another place and she decided that was all really bad. There won’t be any backing of or apologising.”
Read more: Pauline Hanson and Sarah Hanson-Young clash on Sunrise.
The slanging match came after Senator Fraser Anning, of Katter’s Australia Party, moved a motion in the Senate calling on the government to relax import laws for non-lethal weapons, such as mace, tasers and pepper spray, in response to violent crimes against women.
The Queensland senator wants to arm Australian women to give them “security and confidence” to defend themselves against would-be rapists and murderers. However the motion was defeated 46-5, with the only supporters being Peter Anning, Senator Leyonhjelm, One Nation’s Peter Georgiou, Brian Burston and Cory Bernardi.
Greens senator Janet Rice slammed the “ill-conceived” motion, telling parliament: “The last thing that women in Australia need now is another man in power telling us that we are responsible for violence against us.”