Tensions have bubbled to the surface days out from the ACT election, with a middle-fingered salute sparking furore over misogyny and the role of the media in holding politicians accountable.
Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee was caught on camera flipping the bird at a local journalist after a leadership debate with Chief Minister Andrew Barr on Wednesday.
Ms Lee apologised for the rude gesture but said it came out of “sheer frustration” following a string of testy exchanges with veteran RiotACT reporter Ian Bushnell.
“I don’t think I’m the first woman who’s experienced constant interruptions, aggressive behaviour,” she said on Thursday, two days before polling day.
“I do have some history with this certain journalist.”
In a story published on the RiotACT website, Mr Bushnell rejected any suggestion of unprofessional conduct.
“Trying to attack journalists for just doing their job is something the public should be extremely concerned about. It undermines the democratic process,” he said.
“As a practising journalist, I’m there to ask questions on behalf of the public.
“For me, it gets frustrating when politicians evade or deflect questions.
“Ms Lee is the only politician I’ve had these sorts of exchanges with.
“I’m on good terms with everyone else and I thought I was on good terms with her.”
TV cameras caught Ms Lee extending her middle finger towards Mr Bushnell as she walked away from a news conference following the debate at a Canberra hotel.
Mr Bushnell and Ms Lee interrupted each other in a tense back-and-forth as he sought to draw an answer from her on her party’s policy costings.
“Are you finished or not? I will answer the question in my own way, Ian,” she fired back at the reporter.
Ms Lee said his interjections made her feel like she was not being listened to.
“The underlying, kind of, being over the mansplaining, being over the being interrupted a number of times, it just bubbled up,” she said.
“But in saying that, I shouldn’t have done it and I accept that it was poor behaviour.
“I’ve already had a number of people who reached out and believe that there is an underlying misogyny there, most notably from other journos who have told me very quietly that he hasn’t treated Andrew Barr in the same way.
“So that’s what they’ve observed. I don’t know because I obviously haven’t been to Andrew Barr’s press conferences.”
Mr Barr, who once claimed he “hates journalists”, said he understood Ms Lee’s frustrations after a scandal-plagued campaign, including revelations Liberals candidate Darren Roberts made racist comments on social media, and the disendorsement of MLA Elizabeth Kikkert over donation disclosures and poor workplace behaviour.
“Over the course of a campaign you learn a lot about how individuals respond to immense pressure,” Mr Barr said.
“I can understand that frustration but equally, that’s part of the role in government.
“Every week you have to make difficult decisions, give press conferences where you are likely to get questions that are uncomfortable, where occasionally if the journalist doesn’t feel you’re answering the question, they may have a follow-up question or two or three or four.”
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles called the gesture a “pretty extraordinary contribution to the political discourse”.
Ms Lee’s frustrations come at the pointy end of a gruelling campaign as she battles to overturn ACT Labor’s 23-year supremacy in the Legislative Assembly.
More than a quarter of voters had already submitted their ballots on Wednesday, down from the record set in 2020.
