'He wouldn't say it to a man': Hanson-Young brands Leyonhjelm sexist
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has told the Federal Court she confronted former politician David Leyonhjelm and called him "a creep" after they clashed over his "highly offensive" remark that she should "stop shagging men".
On Tuesday, the second day of her defamation case against Mr Leyonhjelm, Senator Hanson-Young said she approached the then-senator in Parliament "to ask if I had heard him correctly" after he made the comment from the sidelines of a heated Senate debate in June last year.
Senator Hanson-Young is suing Mr Leyonhjelm for defamation over comments he made to media outlets in the aftermath of that exchange, including interviews on Sky News, the ABC and Melbourne radio station 3AW, along with a media statement posted on blogging site Medium.com.
Mr Leyonhjelm told media outlets he made the "stop shagging men" comment in response to an alleged claim by Senator Hanson-Young that "all men are rapists". She denies making that claim.
The Greens senator is suing Mr Leyonhjelm for defaming her by alleging she made such an "absurd" comment.
She also claims Mr Leyonhjelm's comments defame her by painting her as a "hypocrite" in that she "claimed that all men are rapists but nevertheless had sexual relations with them", and a "misandrist, in that she publicly claimed that all men are rapists".
Giving evidence on Tuesday, Senator Hanson-Young said Mr Leyonhjelm's comments to the media were sexist.
"Mr Leyonhjelm called me a hypocrite because I have sex with men," she said.
"What's sexist about that?" Mr Leyonhjelm's barrister, Tony Morris, QC, said.
"He wouldn't say it to a man," Senator Hanson-Young said.
A central issue in the case is whether Senator Hanson-Young did say "all men are rapists" during a Senate debate on the importation of weapons such as tasers and mace, and violence against women.
A series of Greens senators gave evidence on Tuesday that they did not hear Senator Hanson-Young use that phrase, although she may have made another interjection.
Greens senator Janet Rice, who was present in the chamber, said that if Senator Hanson-Young "had said 'all men are rapists' I would have heard that because that would have been a very extreme statement and it would have pricked my ears".
She said Mr Leyonhjelm's subsequent comments to the media were "highly unacceptable" and amounted to "attacking her personally and bringing her private life into the public debate".
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson gave evidence that Senator Hanson-Young had made a comment to the effect that guns did not make women safer from men.
He agreed under cross-examination from Mr Morris that the comment was not qualified and referred to men generally rather than "specific men with specific attributes".
Greens senator Rachel Siewert said there was an interjection by Senator Hanson-Young along the lines of protecting women from men. She did not recall that it was qualified by referring to "some men".
The hearing continues.