The Project host Waleed Aly has copped criticism for an apparent ‘mansplain’ to a female presenter who disagreed with him on a controversial Greens proposal.
Speaking on Thursday’s show, Aly delivered a passionate editorial praising the value of a proposal from Greens leader Richard Di Natale to give every citizen $23,000.
The taxpayer-funded payment, known as a universal basic income, would be handed out to offset lost wages from jobs being replaced by robots and computers.
Fellow presenter Rachael Corbett suggested only those who would lose their jobs due to automation would deserve the payment, but Aly was having none of it.
The Project host Waleed Aly (left) has copped criticism for an apparent ‘mansplain’ about a proposed universal basic income to another presenter
Aly was speaking to Rachel Corbett on Thursday’s show about a proposal from Greens leader Richard Di Natale to introduce a universal basic income
‘I just can’t make sense of that… surely this money should only be going to people who without it would be below the poverty line,’ Corbett said.
‘Yeah but that’s because you’re thinking about it the way we’re currently thinking about government payments,’ Aly replied.
‘The idea is… if everyone gets this amount of money you don’t need to police who gets it… and that costs a lot to do,’ he continued.
‘Once you means test it, like we do welfare, it sort of defeats the whole purpose of it.’
Some viewers were quick to slam Waleed for what they considered ‘mansplaining’
Some viewers were quick to slam Waleed for what they considered ‘mansplaining’.
‘Why is this clown still on air? Stopped watching it long ago,’ one man said.
‘I’m not impressed with Waleed Aly’s sense of of self righteous [sic]. He’s negative and shuts down community conversations,’ another wrote online.
‘Waleed is a twat,’ another bluntly said.
Meanwhile, a senior producer at The Project has lashed out at rival show Sunrise on Channel Seven, calling it ‘commercial TV at its worst’ for their coverage on Mr Di Natale’s proposal
Earlier on Thursday, a senior producer at The Project lashed out at rival show Sunrise on Channel Seven, calling it ‘commercial TV at its worst’ for their coverage on Mr Di Natale’s proposal.
Managing editor Tom Whitty, who often works with Aly for his editorials, commented on a Sunrise segment criticising the mass welfare proposal from the Greens.
‘What are the Greens smoking? How could the country possibly afford this?’ Sunrise host Sam Armytage asked a panel featuring radio hosts Tom Elliott and Ron Wilson.
Whitty shared the video on Twitter, criticising it as ‘commercial television at its worst’.
‘Misrepresent an idea and then mock it, with no attempt to engage with it or explain it to your audience,’ he said.
‘Automation is coming and an estimated 57 per cent of the world’s jobs will become redundant. It won’t be commentators out of a job… these three will be just fine.
‘It will be truck drivers, labourers, factory workers, fast food workers, postal workers etc (which is basically Sunrise’s audience) who will be out of work due to a very few who own the automation that will cripple entire industries.’
Earlier on Thursday, a senior producer at The Project lashed out at rival show Sunrise on Channel Seven for its coverage of Mr Di Natale’s proposal
The Sunrise debate was part of their ‘Hot Topic’ segment, which claimed ‘all Australians would receive a welfare payment with no strings attached under a radical proposal from the Greens’.
Another ‘Hot Topic’ segment drew the ire of some viewers and resulted in a investigation from the broadcasting watchdog.
Armytage, Prue MacSween and Ben Davis discussed white families adopting Aboriginal children, sparking mass protests outside Channel Seven.
Managing editor Tom Whitty, who often works with Aly for his editorials, commented on a Sunrise segment criticising the mass welfare proposal from the Greens