Australia Day: Mike Carlton slammed for tweet about Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt

Left wing commentator Mike Carlton has been slammed for his ‘ignorance’ after tweeting his low opinion of body image campaigner Taryn Brumfitt being made the 2023 Australian of the Year.

In a tweet posted after the announcement of Ms Brumfitt as the winner of the top Australia Day gong in Canberra on Wednesday night, Mr Carlton made his view of the decision known on his account with nearly 194,000 followers. 

‘My Australian of the Year would be a doctor or nurse working nights in intensive care or the ED, dealing with COVID and daily death. Real, compassionate work. For very little money. NOT someone who makes a buck out of saying it’s ok to be a bit fat. Good night.’

His tweet was supported by left-wing former Channel 10 television reporter, Paul Bongiorno, who tweeted ‘Indeed’ underneath Mr Carlton’s post.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese presents the award for 2023 Australian of the Year to body-image activist Taryn Brumfitt at the 2023 Australian of the Year Awards in Canberra

In a tweet posted after the announcement of Ms Brumfitt as the winner of the top Australia Day gong in Canberra on Wednesday night, veteran journalist Mike Carlton made his view of the decision known on his account with nearly 194,000 followers

Mr Carlton also tweeted ‘Who ? ? ?’ when news of Ms Brumfitt’s award first broke on Wednesday night

Twitter user Sharna Bremner said Mr Carlton and fellow journalist Paul Bongiorno, who tweeted in support of him, ‘should be ashamed of their ignorance & s****y remarks’

‘Every little girl should grow up seeing her mother naked’

Former bodybuilder Taryn Brumfitt regularly walks around her home naked

Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt has revealed how she regularly walks around naked in front of her two sons – Oliver, 11, and Cruz, 9 – and daughter Mikaela, 8.

The former bodybuilder turned activist believes it’s vital for them to know how a woman’s body changes with age and insists they are all comfortable with her nudity.

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‘It’s something I do mainly for my daughter’s benefit,’ she says. 

‘I know that, as a girl, it’s especially important she sees me unclothed — it facilitates an ongoing dialogue between us about the female body, and the way it changes throughout the course of a woman’s life.

‘In fact, I believe that every little girl should grow up seeing her mother naked on a regular basis.’

Carlton also tweeted ‘Who ? ? ?’ when news of Ms Brumfitt’s award first broke on Wednesday night. 

But the tweets were met with a fierce response from women.

Sharna Bremner, the founder and director of End Rape on Campus Australia, tweeted in response: ‘Eating disorders are the third most common illness among young women in Australia & have the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders,’ she posted. 

‘These two should be ashamed of their ignorance & s****y remarks.’

‘Disgusting, ignorant old white men. F*** them,’ another person responded.

‘I’m really sad to see this, it shows how much more education is needed around eating disorders, and for men to understand the female experience of being reduced to ornamentation our whole lives,’ tweeted Sonya Semmens.

The negative reaction to his tweet caused Mr Carlton to begin blocking those who objected to his view of Ms Brumfitt’s award.

‘Must have blocked around sixty morons of one sort or another in the last 24 hours. But it’s a sunny day and I have better things to do,’ he posted early on Australia Day.

Ms Bremner also shared a screenshot in which Mr Carlton had blocked her from his account. 

Ms Brumfitt, 44, an activist, writer, director and public speaker on a decade-long mission to change how we perceive ourselves, was crowned our top Aussie at a glittering ceremony in Canberra on Wednesday night. 

The Body Image Movement, which she founded in 2012, teaches people – young women in particular – to love and appreciate their bodies and has taken her to a global audience from her humble hometown of Adelaide.

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Ms Brumfitt, 44, an activist, writer, director and public speaker on a decade-long mission to change how we perceive ourselves

In her speech accepting the award, Ms Brumfitt said body shaming had become a chronic national problem, with 70 per cent of schoolchildren citing it as their number one concern

In her speech accepting the award, Ms Brumfitt said body shaming had become a chronic national problem, with 70 per cent of schoolchildren citing it as their number one concern.

‘We’re facing a paediatric health emergency with rates of suicide, depression, eating disorders, anxiety and steroid use related to body dissatisfaction soaring,’ she told the audience.

‘We now know that young people with poor body image are 24 times more likely to be depressed and suffer from anxiety.

‘There is so much despair in this nation for children and adults when it comes to what we think and how we feel about our bodies.

 ‘Australia, it is not our life’s purpose to be at war with our body.’

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Brumfitt and the National Australia Day Council for comment. 

Highlights from Taryn Brumfitt’s Australia Day acceptance speech 

‘We weren’t born into the world hating our bodies.

 ‘This is something the world has taught us.

‘Body shaming is a universal problem and we have been bullied and shamed into thinking our bodies are the problem.

‘And it’s working, because 70 per cent of Australian school children consider body image to be their number one concern.

‘We’re facing a paediatric health emergency with rates of suicide, depression, eating disorders, anxiety and steroid use related to body dissatisfaction soaring.

‘We now know that young people with poor body image are 24 times more likely to be depressed and suffer from anxiety.

‘There is so much despair in this nation for children and adults when it comes to what we think and how we feel about our bodies.

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‘Australia, it is not our life’s purpose to be at war with our body.

Taryn Brumfitt is presented with the Australian of the Year award by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra on Wednesday

‘It’s not our bodies that need to change; it’s our perspective.

‘Every adult is a role model to a child and I’m not here to shame you or make you feel bad. I’m here to ask you to shift the way you think.

‘This is not about encouraging obesity; this is not what I do. And this issue is not simply about weight or size, it’s about the way that we feel about all of ourselves — our skin colour, our height, our age, our gender, our unique selves — and it’s learning to move, nourish, respect and enjoy our bodies because you can’t look after something you don’t love. 

‘Australia, we have 28,000 days on the planet if we’re really lucky and we’re not meant to spend them at war with our bodies.

‘When you take your final breath on this earth, what thoughts will be going through your mind? What will you be thinking about?

‘And no-one has ever said to me ‘the size of their bum’.

‘If we can embrace that perspective now while we are capable, breathing and able, and have the gratitude for our bodies we can all access a more joyous, rich and abundant life.

‘There is a lot of work to do and it starts early and it starts with us being role models for our kids by creating empowering environments where they can thrive.

‘We’re tired of just talking about it, we are tired of the misery and pain of hating our bodies.

‘My goodness Australia, we are ready for change, for ourselves and the generations to come.