The purple logo depicts a curly “W” attached to a rounded purple bar. Other networks under the PM&C have similar logos with bars in different colors and patterns, but none have attracted quite such an intense response on the internet.
“It beggars belief,” Member of Parliament Zali Steggall tweeted on Sunday, along with a photo of the logo. “You can’t unsee it!”
Senator Larissa Waters agreed, calling the image “pathetic and juvenile” on Instagram. “Sure, it’s just a logo,” she wrote, “but if you needed a visual representation of just how completely out of touch the PM is with Australian women you honestly couldn’t do any better.”
The National Older Women’s Network in Australia also panned the logo as “either thoughtless or an insult,” adding that public funds were wasted on designing and publishing the image.
A spokesperson from the Department of PM&C told Newsweek in a statement: “The logo has been removed from the department’s website, pending consultation with staff.”
The Women’s Network is described by the Department of PM&C as “an inclusive, volunteer-based organization” designed to support equal opportunity and professional success for women.
In April 2021, a wave of public backlash forced the Australian government to remove two videos from a website meant to educate the public about sexual consent and respectful relationships. Rape prevention advocates lambasted the resources as confusing and unhelpful in the struggle against sexual violence.
One of the removed videos, titled “Moving the Line,” featured a young woman asking her male partner to try her milkshake, proceeding to smear it over his face after he refused. The video also discussed eating pizza as a circumstance requiring consent.
The other deleted video, called “Yes No I Don’t Know,” showed a man with a spear gun attempting to convince a woman to swim with sharks.
On top of these public relations scandals, a report released by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins in November 2021 revealed that one in three people who worked as parliamentary staffers had experienced sexual harassment. More than half of the individuals surveyed said they had undergone at least one incident of bullying, sexual harassment or actual or attempted sexual assault.
After Jenkins’s review was released, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters: “We all share in the ownership of problems set out in this report—but we all share in implementing the solutions.”
Updated 03/14/2022, 6:58 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with comments from a spokesperson from the Department of PM&C.
