Men’s magazine Zoo Weekly has dumped its controversial search for “Australia’s hottest asylum seeker” and agreed to publish an apology in the face of public outrage.
A change.org petition calling for Zoo to apologise has attracted over 5000 signatures since a Wednesday article by Crikey brought the stunt to national attention.
The magazine also received heavy criticism from angry Facebook and Twitter users.
Zoo editor Tim Keen today rang Matt Darvas, the Newcastle-based refugee advocate who launched the petition, to personally apologise. Keen said that the apology, to be published in this week’s issue of the magazine, will be made to asylum seekers, their families and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, whose image was photoshopped onto a bikini-clad model on the mag’s website.
“Zoo is happy to print an apology to those readers who were offended by our take on a very serious topic and to acknowledge that for asylum seekers and refugees, and their families and supporters, it’s a subject too important for jokes,” Keen wrote in an email.
Keen said it was not his intention to dehumanise or sexualise vulnerable people.
Darvas said: “While I’m delighted that they had halted the competition and apologised, I’m still angry and disappointed that it happened in the first place.
“For Zoo to trivialise and exploit the incredibly traumatic experiences of refugees was utterly appalling.”
Zoo‘s article, published in the wake of asylum seeker drownings, asked: “Are you a refugee not even the immigration minister could refuse? Then we want to see you! We’re looking for Oz’s hottest asylum seeker, so if you’ve swapped persecution for sexiness, we want to shoot you (with a camera — relax!)”
The magazine also offered to house a boatload of asylum seekers if Sarah Hanson-Young agreed to pose for a “tasteful” lingerie shoot.
What a shame. Many rednecks travel vast distances to South East Asia and Europe to find poverty stricken, but physically attractive and subservient spouses who are prepared to do anything to leave their harsh living conditions behind.
A competition like this could have helped assimilation AND saved on greenhouse gases by eliminating the need to travel!
The Greens are not doing anything good for refugees either. Their policy gives incentive and increase the number of people who have money to pay the people smugglers and risk their lives to get to Australia, many will be people who aren’t as desperate and only come through Malaysia and Indonesia in quick transit and block out available resettlement places for those who’ve been waiting overseas, as the screening process does not have the means to verify people’s story.
Their policy is creating as much division and harm to Australian society as the LNP’s policy, and will lead to an LNP government against asylum seekers. Their argument is that deterence does not work. If deterence does not work why bother try to catch and prosecute the people’s smugglers?
Why bother to have police and jails for criminals, clearly it does not work there are always people doing crime why bother having deterence policy? Let’s not have police and jails. Let them all out and hold hands and sing kumbaya, praise Gaia and we will achieve world peace and security.
The Greens policy play more part in supporting the people smugglers industry than stopping it.
“For Zoo to trivialise and exploit the incredibly traumatic experiences of refugees was utterly appalling.”
Up next, a sincere written apology from the Federal Parliament of Australia for offences under the same principle, shortly followed by similar acts of contrition from those famous seekers of truth and impartiality, the Australian mainstream media.
Get off the grass, mate. Zoo brought attention to itself and they’re probably enjoying every minute of it. Be modest.