Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame—honoured for her advocacy for survivors of sexual assault—is now a full-blown activist. Earlier this month, outside Sydney’s Town Hall, she led a crowd in a rather divisive chant at a rally against the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
She screamed: “From Gadigal to Gaza, globalise the intifada!”
For context, “Gadigal” refers to the original inhabitants of the Sydney region. This little chant of hers tells us two things:
1. She doesn’t want to refer to Sydney using its legal name. It goes without saying that the city of Sydney only exists thanks to European colonisation, so to call the metropolitan entity by any other name doesn’t make any logical sense.
2. Globalising the intifada can only mean one thing: taking a word inextricably linked to suicide bombings and civilian casualties and suggesting it be turned into an international export.
To be fair to Ms Tame, she did defend herself on social media, saying that her words have been “disingenuously distorted” by the media: “I said a phrase that isn’t illegal, whilst addressing a peaceful protest.”
Well, tell that to the Jewish Australian community, many of whom lost friends and family in the First and Second Intifadas in Israel. She notes: “For the record, I’m staunchly anti-violence and anti-racism in every form.”
Well, you should probably avoid words synonymous with a decade of suicide bombings and bus attacks.
Although, she ignored the historical context by playing word games, explaining that ‘intifada’ just literally means ‘shaking off’ in Arabic. Oh okay, so what you meant was: “From Gadigal to Gaza, globalise the shaking off!”
Is she referring to a dance move, or is she trying to ‘shake off’ her own responsibility for leading a chant that calls for a globalised armed uprising?
Despite the way Grace Tame has acted, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is under fire. At the Future Victoria conference earlier this week, he took part in a word association game where he had to give a one-word response to a rapid-fire list of people and news topics.
For example, he referred to Pauline Hanson as “divisive,” former Prince Andrew as a “grub,” and One Nation voters as “frustrated.” When it came to Grace Tame, he said: “Difficult.”
It’s a pretty accurate description, I would suggest. After all, in a previous meeting with the Prime Minister, she wore a profanity-laden shirt.
Well, Ms Tame wasn’t too happy with the description. She reshared a post to her Instagram story, claiming: “‘Difficult’ is the misogynist’s code for a woman who won’t comply. History tends to call her ‘courageous’.”
The BBC later reported: “Australian PM apologises after calling child sex abuse survivor and advocate ‘difficult’.” According to the PM, he wasn’t calling her difficult; he was saying she’s had a “difficult life.”
He insisted: “If there was any misinterpretation, then I certainly apologise. She has had a difficult life and that was what I was referring to.”
But he still couldn’t ignore the fallout from her earlier chant. He pivoted: “Now there are other issues, such as the language that Grace Tame used, that I disagree with… That’s why it’s impossible to describe people in one word.”
Ms Tame, however, was not buying the walk-back. As The Guardian noted, she told the Prime Minister to “spare me the condescension, old man,” even accusing him of “quoting Scott [Morrison]” to dismiss her.
Anyway, do you buy Albo’s apology? Do you agree Grace Tame’s had a difficult life? Or is she just playing silly word games?
“The PM called me difficult. I called for a global intifada.”
Either way, whether it’s “shaking off” or “difficult,” one word is never quite enough to hide the reality of what’s actually being said.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame—honoured for her advocacy for survivors of sexual assault—is now a full-blown activist. Earlier this month, outside Sydney’s Town Hall, she led a crowd in a rather divisive chant at a rally against the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
She screamed: “From Gadigal to Gaza, globalise the intifada!”
For context, “Gadigal” refers to the original inhabitants of the Sydney region. This little chant of hers tells us two things:
1. She doesn’t want to refer to Sydney using its legal name. It goes without saying that the city of Sydney only exists thanks to European colonisation, so to call the metropolitan entity by any other name doesn’t make any logical sense.
2. Globalising the intifada can only mean one thing: taking a word inextricably linked to suicide bombings and civilian casualties and suggesting it be turned into an international export.
To be fair to Ms Tame, she did defend herself on social media, saying that her words have been “disingenuously distorted” by the media: “I said a phrase that isn’t illegal, whilst addressing a peaceful protest.”
Well, tell that to the Jewish Australian community, many of whom lost friends and family in the First and Second Intifadas in Israel. She notes: “For the record, I’m staunchly anti-violence and anti-racism in every form.”
Well, you should probably avoid words synonymous with a decade of suicide bombings and bus attacks.
Although, she ignored the historical context by playing word games, explaining that ‘intifada’ just literally means ‘shaking off’ in Arabic. Oh okay, so what you meant was: “From Gadigal to Gaza, globalise the shaking off!”
Is she referring to a dance move, or is she trying to ‘shake off’ her own responsibility for leading a chant that calls for a globalised armed uprising?
Despite the way Grace Tame has acted, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is under fire. At the Future Victoria conference earlier this week, he took part in a word association game where he had to give a one-word response to a rapid-fire list of people and news topics.
For example, he referred to Pauline Hanson as “divisive,” former Prince Andrew as a “grub,” and One Nation voters as “frustrated.” When it came to Grace Tame, he said: “Difficult.”
It’s a pretty accurate description, I would suggest. After all, in a previous meeting with the Prime Minister, she wore a profanity-laden shirt.
Well, Ms Tame wasn’t too happy with the description. She reshared a post to her Instagram story, claiming: “‘Difficult’ is the misogynist’s code for a woman who won’t comply. History tends to call her ‘courageous’.”
The BBC later reported: “Australian PM apologises after calling child sex abuse survivor and advocate ‘difficult’.” According to the PM, he wasn’t calling her difficult; he was saying she’s had a “difficult life.”
He insisted: “If there was any misinterpretation, then I certainly apologise. She has had a difficult life and that was what I was referring to.”
But he still couldn’t ignore the fallout from her earlier chant. He pivoted: “Now there are other issues, such as the language that Grace Tame used, that I disagree with… That’s why it’s impossible to describe people in one word.”
Ms Tame, however, was not buying the walk-back. As The Guardian noted, she told the Prime Minister to “spare me the condescension, old man,” even accusing him of “quoting Scott [Morrison]” to dismiss her.
Anyway, do you buy Albo’s apology? Do you agree Grace Tame’s had a difficult life? Or is she just playing silly word games?
“The PM called me difficult. I called for a global intifada.”
Either way, whether it’s “shaking off” or “difficult,” one word is never quite enough to hide the reality of what’s actually being said.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
