NONI Hazlehurst became the second woman to be inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame tonight, and marked the occasion by reading from her own script.
In an unflinchingly raw and personal speech, Hazlehurst, 62, took aim at the industry the government and a society whose hearts she fears are ‘growing cold’ — and challenged them to change.
Reaction to the speech was immediate — both in the Logies room itself, and outside, as Twitter lit up.
“Completely stunning speech from Noni Hazelhurst as she is awarded the much-deserved #Logies Hall of Fame award,” Today’s Lisa Wilkinson tweeted.
The veteran actor, presenter, former Play School host and star of The Shiralee, Nancy Wake, The Sullivans, and more recently A Place to Call Home, blended dignity, humour, grace and emotion to leave the room silenced.
Her addition to the Hall of Fame — she stands alongside Ruth Cracknell as the only other female inducted since the honour began in 1984 — followed criticism of the Logies for its scant female representation.
Arriving on stage admittedly ‘misty eyed’, she said she hadn’t seen the highlights package of her 43-year career.
“The Logies people wouldn’t let me see that package before now. They wanted me to cry. Job done guys. Thanks a lot,” she said.
“I often get misty eyed about things ... if something touches my heart I cry readily.”
Hazlehurst then appeared to take aim at Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s comments last week when he said Australians “cannot be misty-eyed about this” in relation to the Manus Island debate.
“I was disturbed ... that a misty eyed response to a particularly frightful human story in the news was deemed inappropriate,” Hazelhurst said.
Of her career, Hazelhurst said she thought of herself as ‘a story teller’. “I’ve always tried to find stories that resonated on a human empathetic level. and let me tell you that’s narrowed the field of what I wanted to do considerably,” she said.
“If something didn’t seem to have value for me I couldn’t expect it to for anybody else.”
She said her parents could take credit for her success. “My mum said you can always tell a lousy act they use lots of tricky lighting. The good ones just stood in a spotlight and did it,” she said.
“They made me understand that the industry did not owe me a living.”
Play School, she said, taught her to be herself.
“I started to see a world through the preschoolers eyes to see how free and unafraid they are to just be,” she said. “They haven’t yet been conditioned. No child is born a bigot.”
Hazlehurst lamented a changing TV landscape, and the explosion of technology, made it hard to escape exposure to bad news and violent images — and she fears ‘our hearts are growing cold.”
“The fact that I’m only the second woman to be given this honour is merely a reflection of the prevailing guard — as is the suggestion from some quarters that the eligibility of esteemed colleagues Waleed Aly and Lee Lin Chin going for gold is questionable,” she said.
But, she said, things are changing — albeit slowly.
“The great thing about glaciers is if you’re not on them you go under. I’ve been riding that glacier for 40 years. And I’m staying on top of it.”
Hazlehurst then made a pitch to TV networks, showing she’s far from done yet.
“I’d love a channel that features nothing but stories that inspire us and reassure us and our children that there are good things happening and good people in the world,” she said.
“I know it’s a lot to ask for. But at the very least a show that tries to redress this overwhelming imbalance that counters bad news with good that encourages optimism not pessimism that restores our empathy and love for our fellow human beings and the earth that redefines reality that heals our hearts.”
“And by the way,” she added. “I’m available.”
The speech which stopped the Logies took Hazlehurst just one draft, which she finished at 10am Sunday.
“Then I cut about a minute out of it. I always work under pressure,” she laughed.
“I don’t want people to think I want everyone to be lovely and sweet, I don’t want that, that’s just stupid. What I want is to try and redress the imbalance, to actually have something that acts as an anecdote to this unremitting negativity because I really think people are suffering and it’s dividing us,
“I just think it’s really important that people can watch something that actually makes them feel good about being alive.
“Change only happens when enough people put up their hands and say ‘we’ve had enough.
“I look forward to the day where it’s not an issue whether a man or a woman, or an Asian person or a Muslim gets anything in this country.
“We share more similarities than differences and I think I’m really keen to promote that idea because I think any other idea is divisive and potentially disastrous.”
Hazlehurst trended on Twitter in the wake of her stand.
Some called for her to enter politics, others wanted her to be Prime Minister.
“If I had kids I’d say ‘be Noni Hazelhurst’.” was another offering.
Others simply tweeted lines form her speech, especially: “No child is born a bigot”.
Actress Danielle Cormack was succinct and sincere: “Noni Hazlehurst: Best. Speech. Ever”, she tweeted.
Studio 10’s Jessica Rowe followed suit with: “Noni Hazelhurst I love you! What a speech #TVWEEKLogies ... Yes — a channel about love, acceptance and inspiration for our kids!!”
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