Finally! A Gold Logie Winner Who Vilifies Muslim People
We did it, you guys.
When Sonia Kruger, the media personality who a NSW tribunal said vilified Muslims living in Australia people in 2019, was handed this year’s Gold Logie by Daryl Somers for some reason, I wanted to weep.
As a person who regularly says stuff like “I think Andrew Bolt has a point here”, I grew up rarely seeing myself represented on the screen, except for when I was watching TV.
The dearth of representation hardly even occurred to me until I heard that Sonia Kruger had just won Australia’s most coveted award in TV. It was a tremendous moment, especially given Kruger’s fellow nominees included some of Australia’s most available stars, including Hamish Blake from Lego Masters, and Osher Günsberg, from 2002.
When Daryl Somers (who is no stranger to the “inappropriate” treatment of people while on TV) beckoned a visibly emotional Kruger to the stage, I too was overcome. I experienced what Henry Melville called the “shock of recognition”, that moment that you suddenly clock the great vastness of your potential in another person, because of… well. I don’t know his work.
The point is that Sonia’s nomination makes me feel as though those who have vilified — especially vilifiers of religious minorities who are simply seeking safety — finally have a place in the fabric of this nation in the way that the host of Lego Masters does, and the power of that representation cannot be underestimated.
Haters will say that Australia is a backwater where progress is beginning to feel impossible, but can we reflect for a moment on the fact that Sonia will be the first person to win a Gold Logie found to have vilified Muslims by a legal professional?
This isn’t to say that other Gold Logie winners haven’t come close. Grant Denyer, who made a weird racialised joke about sex with Black men, bagged the trophy in 2018. And what of fellow Gold Logie recipient Karl Stefanovic, who delightfully riffed on an ethnic stereotype when crossing to some cricket fans at the SCG?
Yes, progress was always underway, but it’s only now that we have a winner whose remarks, in the words of the tribunal “encourage hatred towards, or serious contempt for, Australian Muslims”. A Gold Logie winner who didn’t just want to ban Muslim people from coming to Australia — a nation that already boasts racist refugee policies — but would likely shore up hatred towards a minority that’s already discriminated against.
Of course, Sonia always knew how historic it was just to be nominated. In an interview in the lead-up to the Logies, she invoked the importance of “sisterhood” and “long, fulfilling careers” for women. She’s exactly right. As women we need to stand with other women — except for Muslim women, because according to Sonia’s 2016 comments they should be banned from entering the country. Isn’t that what feminism is? I’m genuinely asking.
The point is that Sonia Kruger’s Gold Logie victory is a huge step forward for vilifiers. It’s also a reminder that Australian culture is not static, that we continue to make leaps and bounds in being more embarrassing and incapable of change every day. In the end, is that not something worth celebrating?
This satirical article was written by Reena Gupta, Junkee’s Deputy Editor. She tweets at @purpletank.