It has been the elephant in the room from the moment Lisa Wilkinson left Channel Nine’s Today show.
Her shock departure, which saw her walk away from Karl Stefanovic back in October, was ultimately about equality.
And now The Project’s new anchor Lisa Wilkinson is standing up, and speaking out.
It’s a lot more than the matter of money… It’s about equality.
During a keynote address, Lisa spoke to 700 attendees at the Telstra Business Women’s Awards in Melbourne yesterday.
Not mincing her words, she remarked, “The insidious and omnipresent boys club, and take it from me that still exists, but it has to stop.”
“Personally I can feel change happening, but in many ways we have Donald Trump that self-confessed pussy-grabber to thank for it.”
Continuing, “Women around the world are rising up, we want change, the Harvey Weinsteins of this world can run but fortunately they can no longer hide.”
Chatting to NewsCorp, the 57-year-old spoke on behalf of women, saying they’re “fed up” with the fact their salaries do not mirror their male counterparts.
“You can see women have had enough — the gender pay gap, domestic violence, homelessness is on a huge rise in this country particularly for women over 50.”
Musing, “There are already enough hurdles out there that we have to jump and forces against us that make the fact we are mere female more challenging.”
“We have so many issues we need to address and I think women are really feeling the power and the wind behind them right now.”
Lisa was reportedly earning $1.1 million at Today, while Karl was being paid almost double.
The journalist will now be the highest-paid woman on television thanks to her move to Channel Ten’s The Project, which will see her pocket a reported $2.3 million.
Lisa was reportedly earning $1.1 million at Today, while Karl was being paid almost double.
Lisa’s decision to walk away from her remarkable job was not one that she took lightly.
But the mum-of-three has zero regrets.
In fact, leaving Today has had a surprise silver lining.
“It’s heavenly, I’ve discovered I love sleep,” she gushed.
“I never had a problem sleeping and I’m just getting a lot more of these days and it feels great.”
