Kerri-Anne Kennerley has been cleared of any wrongdoing following a television watchdog investigation after she was labelled a ‘racist’ during a heated Australia Day debate.
Kennerley came under fire by fellow Studio 10 panelist Yumi Stynes during discussions about ‘Invasion Day’ in January.
‘Anyone who knows me knows very well that I am not a racist,’ the TV personality told Private Sydney after being cleared by the Australian Communications and Media Authority this week.
Kerri-Anne Kennerley (pictured) has been cleared of any wrong doing following an investigation by a television watchdog after she was labelled a ‘racist’
‘You know, after that happened I went and looked up the word racist, just to see what the exact meaning of the word was … and it is to look down on someone of a different race.
‘That’s not what I said, and I certainly do not think I am better than anyone else.’
Kennerley and Stynes both joined the Studio 10 panel during discussions over ‘Invasion Day’ protests earlier this year.
Kennerley called out protesters at the event, and questioned whether they could be doing more to help the people they were defending.
‘OK, the 5,000 people who went through the streets making their points known, saying how inappropriate the day is,’ she began.
‘Has any single one of those people been out to the Outback, where children, babies, five-year-olds, are being raped?
‘Their mothers are being raped, their sisters are being raped. They get no education. What have you done?’
The panel sat in shocked silence for several seconds Stynes went straight for the jugular.
‘That is not even faintly true, Kerri-Anne. You’re sounding quite racist right now,’ she said.
KIIS FM and ABC radio host Yumi Stynes responded: ‘That is not even faintly true, Kerri-Anne. You’re sounding quite racist right now’
Kennerley responded by stating she was offended, but Stynes doubled down on her insult.
‘Well keep going then, because every time you open your mouth you’re sounding racist.’
Kennerley wasn’t prepared to cede any ground, either, and again went after the protesters who she accused of only caring one day of the year.
‘These people are desperate for help. Aboriginal elder women are desperate for help, and they’re not getting it.
‘Where are these people doing [other than] one day of the year? You’d be better off doing something positive.’
Kerri-Anne Kennerley said Australia Day protesters should be doing something about the high rate of sexual assault among Aboriginal women instead of focusing on the date
With the argument threatening to boil over, host Sarah Harris tried to defuse the situation.
‘Take it back a notch… everything’s going to be cool,’ she interjected.
She tried to say that it is an issue that really ‘fires people up’, but maintained ‘everyone has their hearts in the right places and everyone wants to do the right thing’.
Stynes told Kennerley many of the protesters would have previously gone out into the Indigenous communities, but Kennerley demanded exact numbers.
She also claimed Kennerley was glossing over women and children also being raped in cities, stating it wasn’t just a rural problem.
Kennerley insisted she wasn’t racist just because she ‘had a point of view’, but Stynes objected to her making assumptions about 5,000 people.
‘Yeah, you’re actually connecting rape, child abuse, you’re drawing a straight line… and you’re implying those 5000 protesters, none of whom you know personally, are all lazy and idle,’ she said.
‘You’re asking if any of them have ever done anything as though it’s clear they haven’t.’
Thousands took to the streets on Saturday to protest against Australia Day and demanding the date be changed as January 26 represents ‘Invasion Day’
Kennerley in turn accused her of ‘drawing a line that isn’t there’, but Stynes said she ‘saw it quite clearly’.
‘Well… get new glasses,’ Kennerley snapped back as Yumi sat stony-faced and stared out at the audience.
Harris finally managed to get control of the segment and beg the panelists to stop calling each other names.
‘This is just an issue that Yumi and I have. There are probably 20 other things that we do agree on — this is just one that we don’t,’ Kennerley replied.
In the wake of the controversy Kennerley told fellow reporter Ben Fordham she was ‘just stating a fact’ when Stynes accused on racism.
The veteran presenter told Fordham she made no mistake when discussing increased sexual assaults in the Outback – and called for more to be done.
Above, demonstrators in Melbourne this weekend. Australia’s 700,000 or so indigenous people track near the bottom of its 25million citizens in almost every economic and social indicator
‘She [Stynes] mentioned it happens in our community… but it is rampant out there. Alcohol is at the base of it and we have to find a way to protect these children,’ she said.
‘If we do not protect these children that leads onto youth suicide, paedophilia, abuse of children creates so many horrible division in life and their life is never the same.’
‘I can only assume that Yumi doesn’t know that it is a fact of life because I never made a racist comment.’
Following the conflict from her comments, Kennerley was invited to spend time with Indigenous women in the outback of Alice Springs.
During her time there she spent several days with Shirleen Campbell and the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group, which she labelled a ‘great experience’.
While opinion polls suggest up to half the country supports changing Australia Day, the conservative government is under pressure to legally entrench January 26 as a national holiday. Pictured, protesters in Brisbane on Saturday
Kennerley spent several days in the outback with Indigenous women, saying it was a ‘great experience’