Founder of What Were You Wearing non-profit organisation Sarah Williams has responded to claims that the organisation denied Anthony Albanese from speaking at the No More rally in Canberra.
Tens of thousands gathered in cities and regions across the country on Sunday to march together and demand an end to violence against women.
While at a rally in Canberra, the Prime Minister claimed he and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher were told he could not speak at the event.
“To be clear we did ask to speak, myself and Katy, and were told that that wasn’t possible and that’s fine, I respect the organiser’s right to do that,” Mr Albanese said.
Taking to social media on Sunday evening, Ms Williams responded to the accusation, saying Albanese has “lied to his country”.
In a statement posted to Instagram, she claimed Mr Albanese “never asked to speak”.
“Representatives from Gallagher and Albanese’s offices both said this morning that they were sure Katy would be happy to speak. Not the Prime Minister,” her statement read.
“Albanese’s office made it clear he was just walking and was not interested in speaking. Myself and WWYW never denied him from speaking. He never asked to speak.
“For him to not only demand he speak because he was being heckled, but lie was disgraceful.”
The statement also claimed people rallied across the country because Albanese wasn’t “doing enough”.
“You walked to that stage and listed your achievements to try to save yourself,” she wrote.
“The rallies were created because you aren’t doing enough.”
During Albanese’s speech, he demanded that the government do better to tackle the national crisis.
“We’re here today to demand that governments of all levels must do better, including my own, including every state and territory government,” Mr Albanese said.
“We’re here as well to say that society and Australia must do better. We need to change the culture, we need to change attitudes, we need to change the legal system.”
The speech prompted a mixed reaction from the crowd, with some yelling “It’s not enough”, while others cheered and clapped.
Source Agencies
