Controversial comedian Catherine Deveny has labelled Anzac Day as ‘bogan Halloween’ just hours after taking to Twitter to claim war veterans didn’t serve Australia and were ‘ignorant and uneducated’.
In a social media post on Tuesday, the stand-up comedian and former television joke writer from Melbourne suggested diggers didn’t deserve to be saluted for their sacrifice on the frontline.
‘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 tweeted in the morning.
Controversial Australian comedian Catherine Deveny (pictured) has labelled Anzac Day as ‘bogan Halloween’ just hours after taking to Twitter to claim war veterans were ‘ignorant and uneducated’
![On Tuesday, the stand-up comedian and former television joke writer from Melbourne suggested diggers didn't deserve to be saluted for their sacrifice](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/04/24/02/4B7A427000000578-5649449-In_a_disrespectful_post_on_the_eve_of_Anzac_Day_the_stand_up_com-a-16_1524533282586.jpg)
On Tuesday, the stand-up comedian and former television joke writer from Melbourne suggested diggers didn’t deserve to be saluted for their sacrifice
‘It’s just a job and work. Throw the term ‘serve’ in the bin.
‘It’s part of the fetishisation of war and violence.’
The 50-year-old comedian, who was sacked as a Fairfax Media columnist in 2010 for wishing Bindi Irwin – then aged 11 – would ‘get laid’, was panned on Twitter for her remarks and claimed some people had threatened her with violence and sexual assault.
‘Show Some Respect = Shut The Fuck Up Or I’ll Threaten To Rape You #AnzacDay’ she wrote on Twitter after her initial remarks.
Throughout the day, Ms Deveny took to Twitter to slam Anzac Day, suggesting other jobs were as equally dangerous as being a soldier in war, even though many diggers were conscripted into battle during the First and Second World Wars and Vietnam.
‘Firefighters, paramedics, police, doctors, social workers, nurses, window cleaners, miners, arborists, labours, farmers, construction workers, people who work with those suffering severe mental illness, prison officers, roofers, teachers (in American schools), loggers, fishermen,’ she said.
![Ms Deveny began her online rant on Monday night in a Facebook post declaring: 'ANZAC Day is f***ing disgusting and should have gone in the bin decades ago'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/04/24/23/4B7A520F00000578-5653581-image-a-40_1524608821687.jpg)
Ms Deveny began her online rant on Monday night in a Facebook post declaring: ‘ANZAC Day is f***ing disgusting and should have gone in the bin decades ago’
She went further and said soldiers were ‘sucked in with the glamour of war and racism under the guise of patriotism’.
‘They were uneducated and ignorant. Most were up for an adventure and identity. That’s why they went. For their own self-serving reasons,’ she said.
In a second tweet on Tuesday, the comedian wrote: ‘One of the thing that ANZAC day brings up is the hilarious notion that Australians have fought for our right to free speech. 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.’
‘ANZAC Day. It’s Bogan Halloween,’ she said in a third and final tweet in the evening.
Ms Deveny began her online rant on Monday night in a Facebook post declaring: ‘ANZAC Day is f***ing disgusting and should have gone in the bin decades ago.’
‘As it gets closer my head feels tighter and tighter and I feel more and more nauseous. I blame the collective cognitive dissonance seeping in. I abhor ANZAC Day and can’t wait til it’s over.’
‘I am so delighted to hear the chorus increasing every year saying ‘Anzac Day is bulls***. It’s a Trojan Horse for racism, sexism, toxic masculinity, violence, homophobia and discrimination.’
![They called her out for trivialising the plight of war veterans, who suffered from post traumatic stress, including the Battle of the Somme in 1916 that saw one million men killed or injured. A soldier is pictured during the Battle of the Somme](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/04/24/02/4B7A425600000578-5649449-They_called_her_out_for_trivialising_the_plight_of_war_veterans_-a-14_1524533282117.jpg)
They called her out for trivialising the plight of war veterans, who suffered from post traumatic stress, including the Battle of the Somme in 1916 that saw one million men killed or injured. A soldier is pictured during the Battle of the Somme
![Australia's involvement in the First World War, at the Battle of the Somme in France (pictured), demonstrated the young nation's commitment to global security](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/04/24/02/4B7A422000000578-5649449-image-a-40_1524532056000.jpg)
Australia’s involvement in the First World War, at the Battle of the Somme in France (pictured), demonstrated the young nation’s commitment to global security
Several people reacted to the tweet by pointing to Australian troops who had been tortured as prisoners of war after being captured by the Japanese in 1942, and forced to do hard labour on the Thai-Burma railway.
They also took her to task for trivialising the plight of war veterans, who had suffered from post traumatic stress and lost limbs in major battles, including the Battle of the Somme in France during 1916 that saw one million men killed or injured.
‘It takes a lot of effort to concoct something as asinine as that statement,’ Mick Snowden wrote.
‘I can only assume you’re desperate for some form of notoriety. Poor form.’
In an era when veterans of the Vietnam and more recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars have committed suicide and are continuing to suffer mental health problems, one man described her comments as ‘truly disgusting’.
![As veterans of the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars have committed suicide and continue to suffer mental health problems, one man described her comments as 'truly disgusting'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/04/24/23/4B7A34CA00000578-0-As_veterans_of_the_Vietnam_Iraq_and_Afghanistan_wars_have_commit-a-14_1524607372167.jpg)
As veterans of the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars have committed suicide and continue to suffer mental health problems, one man described her comments as ‘truly disgusting’
![This man suggested Catherine Deveny was seeking attention on the eve of Anzac Day](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/04/24/23/4B7A34CE00000578-0-This_man_suggested_Catherine_Deveny_was_seeking_attention_on_the-a-15_1524607372413.jpg)
This man suggested Catherine Deveny was seeking attention on the eve of Anzac Day
![Several men pointed out how Australians had been prisoners of war, after being captured by the Japanese in 1942, and forced to do hard labour with torture on the Thai-Burma railway](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/04/24/23/4B7A34C600000578-0-Several_men_pointed_out_how_Australians_had_been_prisoners_of_wa-a-16_1524607372459.jpg)
Several men pointed out how Australians had been prisoners of war, after being captured by the Japanese in 1942, and forced to do hard labour with torture on the Thai-Burma railway
‘To the proud members serving, many of them don’t just get up and go to ‘work’,’ he said. ‘It is their every waking breath.’
Australia has been involved in a series of major overseas conflicts since the Boer War at the turn of the twentieth century.
It was Australia’s involvement in the First World War, at Gallipoli in Turkey and the Battle of the Somme in France, and later in the Second World War fighting in the Pacific and in Europe, that are best remembered on Anzac Day.
![The comedian, who was sacked as a Fairfax columnist in 2010 for wishing Bindi Irwin (pictured with boyfriend Chandler Powell) then aged 11 would 'get laid', was panned on Twitter](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/04/24/23/4B7A426900000578-0-The_comedian_who_was_sacked_as_a_Fairfax_columnist_in_2010_for_w-a-17_1524607372585.jpg)
The comedian, who was sacked as a Fairfax columnist in 2010 for wishing Bindi Irwin (pictured with boyfriend Chandler Powell) then aged 11 would ‘get laid’, was panned on Twitter
![Rather than apologise, she doubled down and suggested other jobs were as equally dangerous as being a soldier in war](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/04/24/23/4B7AC42000000578-0-Rather_than_apologise_she_doubled_down_and_suggested_other_jobs_-a-18_1524607373054.jpg)
Rather than apologise, she doubled down and suggested other jobs were as equally dangerous as being a soldier in war
![She went further and suggested soldiers were 'sucked in with the glamour of war and racism under the guise of patriotism'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/04/24/23/4B7B044500000578-0-She_went_further_and_suggested_soldiers_were_sucked_in_with_the_-a-19_1524607373063.jpg)
She went further and suggested soldiers were ‘sucked in with the glamour of war and racism under the guise of patriotism’