Perth Lord Mayor and Liberal Party hopeful Basil Zempilas says his comments about women's tennis during a press conference announcing his planned entry into state politics have been misconstrued.
Key points:
- Basil Zempilas was talking to a journalist before a press conference in Perth
- He referred to the fact news bulletins would be aired at the same time as the Australian Open final
- An edited section of the clip was posted on X
Mr Zempilas has been widely touted as a potential future leader of the WA Liberals who could claw back ground for the party in the state, after the 2021 election saw it secure just two seats in the lower house.
Mr Zempilas, a sports commentator and long-time employee of Kerry Stokes's SevenWest Media, was today announcing his planned tilt for the seat of Churchlands in the 2025 state election when he made a series of offhand comments to a Channel Nine reporter.
Part of the exchange was edited and spread over social media, being picked up by national media outlets and resulting in social media pile on against Mr Zempilas.
In the exchange, Mr Zempilas appears to refer disparagingly to the women's Australian Open final as a "reserve game".
See the full, unedited clip above.
But Mr Zempilas said it was wrongly reported and the clip showed he was in fact talking about the reporter, Channel Nine's Michael Genovese and his partner at Channel 7, hosting the news on different channels.
The ABC was at the press conference and recorded the following exchange.
"Is it head to head with …?" Mr Zempilas asked.
"[She's] reading the Channel Seven news," the reporter responds.
"It's like a derby," Mr Zempilas said.
Then the comment that got him in hot water:
"The tennis is on tonight, isn't it?" Mr Zempilas asked.
"Yeah the female final," Mr Genovese said.
"Oh, it's a reserve game then," Mr Zempilas said.
In a post on X, Mr Zempilas said it had been taken entirely out of context, which Mr Genovese later confirmed.
"Before today's press conference Michael and I were talking about how presenting the news when a big sporting event is on at the same time means a small audience will watch the news," he said on his social media account.
"Reading the news against the tennis was what I was referring to as 'being the reserves' … not the tennis.
"I cannot make that any clearer or be any more emphatic."
This is not the first time Mr Zempilas has attracted condemnation for offhand comments.
Shortly after being voted in as Perth lord mayor in 2020, he made comments widely branded as transphobic on his radio show, something he later apologised for.
Mr Zempilas's announcement he would run for Churchlands caps off months of speculation about his political ambitions.
Party insiders hope his wideranging media profile will breathe new life into the campaign.
Mr Zempilas chose to reveal his political aspirations for Churchlands in a front-page spread and lengthy profile in his employer's newspaper — The West Australian.
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