Stan Grant chats with Greg Inglis at Sydney Airport after quitting Q+A over racist abuse

• TV presenter Stan Grant flew home to Sydney on Tuesday 
• He has left ABC’s Q+A after hosting it for just 10 months 
• Grant ran into Indigenous NRL champion Greg Inglis  

A relaxed-looking Stan Grant began his break from hosting Q+A on Tuesday with a flight home to Sydney from Melbourne and a bit of not-so-light reading. 

Having presented Monday night’s episode of the ABC panel discussion program a smiling Grant strode through Sydney Airport clutching a copy of The Cross and the Lynching Tree.

James H Core’s book about African-American black liberation theology begins with a history of lynching in the United States and draws parallels between those killings and the crucifixion of Jesus.

Grant had told Monday night’s audience ‘I am down right now… but I will get back up’ when describing his decision to at least temporarily quit Q+A, citing repeated racist bullying. 

While leaving the airport Grant stopped to chat with retired rugby league champion and fellow Indigenous advocate Greg Inglis, who was subjected to racist slurs from the crowd during his playing career. 

Grant shook with emotion and had tears in his eyes on Monday as he said his ‘soul hurts’ in a powerful goodbye speech after hosting his final episode of Q+A.

The 59-year-old did not address the ABC directly in his closing speech, but earlier appeared to take aim at the public broadcaster for not standing by him, saying: ‘I know that media needs to be better.’

After just 10 months in the role, Grant announced last Friday he was taking leave after being subjected to ‘relentless racial filth’, and accused the ABC of ‘institutional failure’ because he said no-one offered him support. 

Speaking directly into the lens at the end of Monday night’s program, he said: ‘I’ve had to learn that endurance is not always strength. 

‘Sometimes, strength is knowing when to say stop. And to those who have sent messages of support – thank you so much. But I’ll be OK.’

He said he was stepping down after racial abuse which had ramped up since he appeared on coverage of King Charles’ coronation; coverage that was criticised by some for harping on the negatives of England’s colonial past and questioning the role of the monarchy.

‘To those who have abused me and my family, I would just say – if your aim was to hurt me, well, you’ve succeeded,’ he said on Monday.

‘And I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I must have given you so much cause to hate me so much, to target me and my family, to make threats against me.

‘I am down right now. I am. But I will get back up. And you can come at me again, and I will meet you with the love of my people.

‘My people can teach the world to love. As Martin Luther King Jr said of his struggle, ‘We will wear you down with our capacity to love all’.’

However Grant said he was not walking away because of racism or social media hatred, but a broader disenchantment with the media.

‘I need a break from the media. I feel like I’m part of the problem. And I need to ask myself how, or if, we can do it better.’

He ended by thanking his family, speaking a few words in his native Wiradjuri language and then said a simple ‘Goodnight.’

Earlier on Monday, hundreds of ABC staff across the country walked out of offices in solidarity with Grant, with his broadcaster wife Tracey Holmes, ex-wife and SBS journalist Karla Grant and his daughter, NITV journalist Lowanna, front-and-centre at the protests. 

Dozens gathered outside the national broadcaster’s headquarters in Ultimo, Sydney, as well as Parliament House in Canberra and the broadcaster’s Southbank base in Melbourne.

Lowanna Grant became emotional as she told the crowd in Sydney about the toll the abuse had taken on her family.

‘It’s really hard to see him struggling, and that he’s had to cop the racism and disgusting filth that’s been online,’ she said.

‘I’m so grateful to everyone here today who is supporting him, and not just my dad but all other First Nation’s journalists.’

Grant’s first wife, Karla Grant, told the Sydney crowd that racial abuse was an ongoing issue for Indigenous reporters, and her family.

‘It’s an accumulation of years of racism our people have had to face,’ she said.

‘Enough is enough and we have to take a stand.’

The ABC still hope Grant will one day return to the show. 

‘Q+A is due, I think it has a few more episodes after this week, and then it’s got a mid-season break, and then it will return,’ ABC News director Justin Stevens told ABC radio. 

‘We just want to give him space and time to try and have a breather from this.

‘Hopefully he’ll return after the mid-season break, but we just don’t want to put him under any extra pressure at the moment.’

Mr Stevens on Friday issued a statement calling the abuse Grant suffered ‘abhorrent and unacceptable’. 

‘The ABC stands by him and condemns the attacks directed towards him. The ABC has and will continue to refer any threats to police,’ he added. 

The ABC also plans to review its response to racist trolling. 

Read Stan Grant’s emotional message in full 

Before I go, I wanted to say a few words.

Many of you would know by now that I’m stepping away for a little while.

Sometimes, we need to just take time out. Sometimes, our souls are hurting, and so it is for me.

I’ve had to learn that endurance is not always strength. Sometimes, strength is knowing when to say stop. And to those who have sent messages of support – thank you so much.

But I’ll be OK. Please, send that support and care to those of my people, and all people, who feel abandoned and alone, who are wondering whether they have a place in this country and who don’t have my privileges.

To those who have abused me and my family, I would just say – if your aim was to hurt me, well, you’ve succeeded, and I’m sorry.

I’m sorry that I must have given you so much cause to hate me, to target me and my family, to make threats against me. I’m sorry.

And that’s what Yindyamarra means. It means that I am not just responsible for what I do, but for what you do.

It’s not just a word – it is sacred. It is what it means to be Wiradjuri. It is the core of my being. It is respect. It is respect that comes from the earth we are born into, from God, Baiame. If I break that, I lose who I am.

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I am down right now. I am. But I will get back up. And you can come at me again, and I will meet you with the love of my people.

My people can teach the world to love. As Martin Luther King Jr said of his struggle, ‘We will wear you down with our capacity to love all.’

Don’t mistake our love for weakness – it is our strength. We have never stopped loving and fighting for justice and truth – the hard truths – to speak in our land.

Yindyamarra Winhanganha means to live with respect in a world worth living in. And we in the media must ask – if we are truly honouring a world worth living in.

Too often, we are the poison in the bloodstream of our society. I fear the media does not have the love or the language to speak to the gentle spirits of our land.

I’m not walking away for a while because of racism – we get that far too often. I’m not walking away because of social media hatred.

I need a break from the media. I feel like I’m part of the problem. And I need to ask myself how, or if, we can do it better.

To my people – I have always wanted to represent you with pride. I know I might disappoint you sometimes but, in my own little way, I’ve just wanted to make us seen, and I’m sorry that I can’t do that for a little while.

To my family – I love you. And to my mum and dad – Balladhu Wiradjuri Gibir. Dyirrimadalinya Badhu Wiradjuri. Mandang guwu…. Goodnight.