Jesinta Franklin broke her social media silence on Sunday after receiving backlash over comments made last week regarding the Cleo Smith case.
But earlier in the day, the model and her husband, Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, 34, had their hands full with family matters.
The pair arrived at their Sydney home with their young children, daughter Tullulah, 20 months, and son i, seven months.
Speaking up: Jesinta Franklin broke her social media silence on Sunday after receiving backlash over comments made last week over Cleo Smith. Pictured with daughter Tullulah
Jesinta wrestled with a wriggling Tullulah, who slid around in her mother’s arms as she walked along.
AFL legend Buddy meanwhile pushed a pram and carried little Rocky close to his chest.
The mother-of-two was dressed casually in a white tank top and wide-legged jeans along with a pair of sunglasses.
Dad duty: The model and her husband, Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, 34, (pictured) arrived at their Sydney home with their children. Buddy is pictured with son Rocky
Baby love: Jesinta wrestled with a wriggling Tullulah, who slid around in her mother’s arms as she walked along
Know that feeling! The little one pawed at her mother’s face and would not sit still
Footballer Buddy opted for an olive green t-shirt and black shorts along with a matching cap.
Earlier on Sunday, Jesinta broke her silence after receiving a huge backlash over her comments that the Cleo Smith case wouldn’t have generated the same amount of attention if she were Indigenous.
Jesinta made the controversial post after the four-year-old girl was miraculously discovered in a rundown house after being missing for 18 days.
Casual: Footballer Buddy opted for an olive green t-shirt and black shorts along with a matching cap
Casual: The mother-of-two was dressed casually in a white tank top and wide-legged jeans along with a pair of sunglasses
Details: She appeared to go makeup free and wore her hair pulled back in a bun
Her rescue saw Australians unite in joy, with the news making front page headlines across the world as missing children’s experts marvelled that she was found safe and well.
But Jesinta used the opportunity to claim that more focus is put on missing white children, with many missing Indigenous kids not receiving the same attention, sparking a huge backlash from irate fans.
In a series of Instagram stories shared on Sunday, she wrote: ‘Thank you to everyone who engaged in meaningful conversations in regards to my post about the lack of equality in the visibility of cases of missing children.
Relaxed: Jesinta appeared to go makeup free for her outing
Easy does it: She pulled her brunette hair back in a tight bun
‘Confronting and often forgotten topics like this are important to continue to talk about. I received an outpouring of messages about the lack of action and media attention for not only missing Indigenous children but all children of colour.
‘I hope that all missing children, regardless of ethnicity, have an equal presence in the media and that articles to come, give voice to this disparity and injustice.
‘This doesn’t take away from anyone else’s story or pain, just highlights how important it really is’.
Comments: Earlier on Sunday, Jesinta broke her silence after receiving a huge backlash over her comments that the Cleo Smith case wouldn’t have generated the same amount of attention if she were Indigenous
Speaking: Jesinta made the controversial post after the four-year-old girl was miraculously discovered in a rundown house after being missing for 18 days. Cleo Smith is pictured
She went on in further stories: ‘I have posted about this in the past but unfortunately not many people paid much attention. Tonight I will be reposting again so we can continue to educate ourselves, myself included.
‘I have had an influx of people reach out to me saying they had no idea about the statistics or that this issue even existed.’
Jesinta concluded: ‘This is not the first and won’t be the last time I speak up and shine a light on issues of equality and injustice’.
In a series of Instagram Stories shared on Sunday, the model wrote: ‘Thank you to everyone who engaged in meaningful conversations in regards to my post about the lack of equality in the visibility of cases of missing children’
Jesinta concluded: ‘This is not the first and won’t be the last time I speak up and shine a light on issues of equality and injustice’
The football WAG then shared a recommendation for her fans to listen to the Bowraville podcast.
It covers the unsolved murder of three children in Bowraville, a small town in the Mid North Coast hinterland of New South Wales, who were all killed within five months of each other.
She also highlighted the case of 10-month-old Indigenous baby Charlie Boy Mullaley who was tortured and killed in Western Australia in 2013, after being kidnapped by his mother’s ex partner.
Case: Cleo Smith (pictured) was missing for 18 days after allegedly being abducted from a remote WA campsite while her parents slept
Highlighting: The football WAG then shared a recommendation for her fans to listen to the Bowraville podcast. It covers the unsolved murder of three children in Bowraville, a small town in the Mid North Coast hinterland of New South Wales, who were all killed within five months of each other
Important case: She also highlighted the case of 10-month-old Indigenous baby Charlie Boy Mullaley who was tortured and killed in Western Australia in 2013, after being kidnapped by his mother’s ex partner. The response of the police in that case has been heavily criticised
The response of the police in that case has been heavily criticised.
‘The way this case ended is unfathomable. I have linked the family’s petition to the WA Attorney General and Premier here. It includes the case file so you can read up on what took place,’ Jesinta said, alongside a Justice.Org petition.
While she garnered negative attention, Jesinta also saw support following her comments.
Supporters flooded the model’s Instagram account with praise after she deleted her original post following backlash.
‘Thank you for speaking up for Indigenous children. Sorry you were pressured into deleting the post, you said nothing wrong,’ one fan commented.
‘I support what you said! Indigenous children and children of colour are so overlooked,’ added another.
Support: Supporters flooded the model’s Instagram page with praise after she deleted her original controversial post amid backlash. Pictured with her daughter Tullulah
‘Thank you for speaking up for Indigenous children. Sorry you were pressured into deleting the post, you said nothing wrong,’ one fan commented. Pictured: Cleo Smith
‘Of course Cleo deserves the effort that went into the search but ALL children deserve that! Western culture has a horrible history of sensationalising white missing children.’
A third said her post was ‘100 per cent correct’, while several others said she was ‘spot on’ with her assessment.
‘I’m really sorry you deleted your comment about Cleo. Yes, your timing was off but you were absolutely spot on,’ commented one fan.
‘We need to highlight this as an example of injustices within Indigenous communities.’
However, she also experienced backlash, with many criticising the timing of her post.
Timing: However, she also experienced backlash, with many criticising the timing of her post
‘Wrong time to bring this up,’ wrote one critic, while a second slammed her post as ‘utterly insensitive’.
‘I’d agree with her if she made concerted efforts to bring this to light consistently prior to this incident, piggy backing is just making it about her!’ wrote another.
One accused Jesinta of ‘turn[ing] the good-news story of the year into [an] issue of race’.
Jesinta deleted her original Instagram story, which she posted on Wednesday.
The former Miss Universe Australia, who is married to Indigenous AFL superstar Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, pointed out the ‘disparity’ between missing white children and Indigenous children.
‘Wrong time to bring this up,’ wrote one critic, while a second slammed her post as ‘utterly insensitive’
‘Without taking away from the joy of finding a missing child alive and well, I can’t help but think about the disparity that exists in this country between missing children who are White and Indigenous children when it comes to the visibility and coverage of the case,’ she wrote.
‘I have read so many heartbreaking stories of missing Indigenous children that garner hardly any media coverage or the social media coverage that a case like Cleo’s did.
‘I have no doubt the widespread broadcasting of information in regards to the case assisted the phenomenal efforts of the WA police force in locating this beautiful little girl and reuniting her with her family.’
At a disadvantage: The former Miss Universe Australia, who is married to Indigenous AFL star Buddy Franklin, noted the ‘disparity’ between missing white children and Indigenous children
She added: ‘Posting this because I think we need to do better for all children who go missing and their families.’
Indigenous people account for 17.5 per cent of all unsolved missing persons cases in Western Australia, despite making up just three per cent of the local population.
In August 2019, the families of 15 missing Aboriginal children united for a state-wide rally in NSW to raise awareness for Indigenous cases.
Cleo disappeared on October 16 and was found alive at 12.46am on Wednesday when police stormed a public housing home after a sudden tip off with a ‘needle in haystack’ clue.
Family: Jesinta is mother to daughter Tullulah, 20 months, and son Rocky, seven months, whom she shares with her husband of five years, Indigenous AFL star Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin
Police feared the missing girl could have been spirited away anywhere in the country – but instead she was under their noses all along in a rundown house just 3km from her home and 75km from the campsite.
‘What’s your name?’ officers asked as they scooped her up into their arms. ‘My name is Cleo,’ she replied.
That rundown house on Tonkin Crescent in Brockman, in the northern suburbs of Carnarvon in northwest Western Australia, is just kilometres from where she lived in South Carnarvon.
Cleo was likely already locked up in the house when her mother Ellie Smith and stepfather Jake Gliddon awoke at 6am to find she was no longer lying next to them and her baby sister Isla in their tent at Blowholes camping grounds.
Terence Darrell Kelly has been charged with a range of offences including forcibly taking a child under 16.
Found: Cleo disappeared on October 16 and was found alive at 12.46am on Wednesday when police stormed a public housing home after a sudden tip off with a ‘needle in haystack’ clue