The Ernie Awards

I have previously written about the annual Ernie Awards.  They came to mind and I realised that I had not seen any report as to the winners in 2018. When I looked into it I found that the awards had been held in late August 2018. Before setting out the winners, and a comparison with the 2017 winners, here is a bit about the awards . . . 

The Ernie Awards are Australian awards for comments deemed misogynistic.  

It is named after former Australian Workers' Union secretary Ernie Ecob, who was known for his misogynistic remarks. One of his best-known remarks was "Women aren't welcome in the shearing sheds. They're only after the sex," which is why there is a sheep on top of the Gold Ernie. The inaugural awards night was in celebration of him resigning from the Labor Council of New South Wales.  

A dinner is held for 300 women each year and the winner is determined by the person who receives the most booing when their sexist statement or action is read out. A variety of categories have featured, such as the Gold Ernie, the Warney (for sport, named after Shane Warne), the Media Ernie, the Political Ernie, the Judicial Ernie, the Anon (for boys behaving better, formerly called the Gareth after Gareth Evans, the Elaine (for females making comments unhelpful to the sisterhood, named after Elaine Nile and the Trump (for repeat offenders). The categories of offenders have changed over the years, according to Meredith Burgmann.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Awards

The winners in 2017 and 2018:

Award	2017	2018
Gold Ernie	Port Stephens mayor Bruce MacKenzie, for pleading guilty to assaulting his partner but still wanting a domestic violence shelter to be named after him.	Cricket Australia for sacking a female employee, Angela Williamson, after she campaigned for abortion reform on social media.
Silver Ernie – Industrial/ Workplace	Ford Motor Company, for dismissing complaints on the Ford Focus losing power to an issue with the way women drove.	Tie between: Coopers Hotel Newtown for posting on social media “Keep calm and slap a bitch as we approach the finals of this year’s NRL!” Sky News The Outsiders program –  After criticism of the sexist attack on Sarah Hanson-Young, they sacked the junior woman producer who wrote the strapline, the only woman working on the show.
Silver Ernie - Political	Port Stephens mayor Bruce MacKenzie, for pleading guilty to assaulting his partner but still wanting a domestic violence shelter to be named after him	Barnaby Joyce for his comment about his daughters in 2017’s marriage equality plebiscite. "We know that the best protection for those girls is that they get themselves into a secure relationship with a loving husband, and I want that to happen," he said at the time.
Silver Ernie - Media	Political commentator Andrew Bolt, for remarking on a Human Rights Commission report which found that 51% of university students were sexually harassed last year, “Yes, we should be shocked and visibly upset... that the Commission perpetrated such a hoax. We should be shocked and upset that not one university boss had the guts to call out this fraud of a study”.	Blogger Tim Blair at the Daily Telegraph for his comment: "February 11: International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Frankly wasn't it better when they used rabbits?"
Silver Ernie - Judicial	Victorian judge Christopher Ryan, for describing a 14 year old sexual assault victim as “nubile” and “worldly”.	Magistrate Michael Barko who described a domestic assault charge as “a lower-end allegation that happens in every second house” and accused the woman of “slapping the court in the face” for failing to turn up.
The Warney for Sport	Dale Simmons, President of the Cervantes Tiger Sharks Football Club in WA, for calling AFL umpire Eleni Glouftsis, “a dopey mole” and “a stupid bitch” and that she would change her mind on umpiring decisions because she was a woman.	Cricket Australia's sacking of Williamson also earned it the Silver Sports Ernie.
The Fred — Clerical, Culinary, Celebrity	Keysar Trad, former President of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, for saying “using violence against women is a last resort for men, step three after counselling, buying her chocolates or taking her out to dinner”.	The Celebrity Silver Ernie went to television presenter Don Burke, who used his self-diagnosed Asperger’s syndrome to excuse sexual harassment allegations against him.
The Trump – for Repeat Offenders	Political commentator and politician Mark Latham	Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott
The Elaine – for  Women	Journalist Louise Roberts, for writing, “If I’m getting paid less than a man for doing the same job, its not his fault. It is mine, through life choices I have made for myself”.	The Elaine for the remark least helpful to the Sisterhood went to Jobs Minister Michaelia Cash, who in February threatened:   "If you want to start discussing staff matters, be very, very careful. Because I'm happy to sit here and name every young woman in Mr Shorten's office over which rumours in this place abound," Ms Cash said during the Senate Estimates hearing.
The Good Ernie	Australian Cricketers' Association, for giving female cricketers a large pay increase.	To former Sydney Swans player Brandon Jack, who has become an active voice in the discussion surrounding violence against women.