Don Burke's 1993 domestic violence campaign sparked backlash from women

Don Burke in 1993 campaign to prevent violence against women

Don Burke refused to end his involvement in a 1993 campaign against domestic violence following a backlash from women, the ABC understands.

In the wake of allegations of sexual harassment and indecent assault by the TV gardener, it has emerged Burke lent his name to the campaign that featured the likes of Kieran Perkins and James Blundell.

It included billboards, posters and TV advertisements with phrases like "real men don't bash or rape women".

In it, Burke was pictured as an ambassador with his family, with a quote underneath that read: "Many people suffer stress, get drunk, lose their jobs, get angry or jealous without resorting to violence. There is never any excuse for a man to be violent towards a woman."

There is no suggestion that Burke has ever been violent against women.

The ABC has been told Burke was asked to end his involvement following a complaint about his attitude to women but refused to do so, at which point the campaign was pulled.

The campaign was organised by the then Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet's Office of the Status of Women.

In a statement to the ABC the office said it was still investigating what happened to the campaign.

A chapter from Don Burke's book, The Lazy Gardener.

More to The Lazy Gardener than meets the eye

Burke's most famous publication was his seminal gardening handbook, The Lazy Gardener.

In the wake of allegations of indecent assault and sexual harassment, some lines from his book are being read in a more troubling context.

They include the opening of chapter six where Burke quotes a poem:

"A woman, a dog, a walnut tree.
"The more you beat them, the better they be."

Burke goes on to describe the lines as, "The above greatest of all English truisms...".

While allegations against Burke do not include physical violence, they are being read in the context of allegations about his attitude towards women.

The walnut chapter details how walnut trees need a "jolly good hiding", and that the bruising of the bark causes the production of "hormones which produce flowering".

"A strange state of affairs that punishing a tree should promote its sexual activity but common decency and a Catholic sense of what is right and proper prevents me from delving into the obvious parallel with the species Homo sapiens," it reads.

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