Hugh Sheridan Port August line just a gag
A South Australian mayor is calling on Hugh Sheridan to apologise for a joke about "Port Au-Gutta."
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
A South Australian mayor is calling on Hugh Sheridan to apologise for a joke he made about her regional city, Port Augusta.
On Monday night’s episode of The Project, the I Will Survive host joked that he used to “sing New York, New York on the way to Port Au-Gutta” when he was young.
Mayor Joy Baluch has told ABC news online that it was offensive.
“It casts aspersions upon all of our community, in particular the Aboriginal community,” she said.
A TEN spokesperson said, “Anyone who saw Hugh Sheridan on TEN’s The Project on Monday night would be well aware that what he said was in fun.
“Hugh was fondly recalling a family holiday.
“Mrs Baluch’s claim that Hugh was casting aspersions upon the Port Augusta community, or any members of it, is completely ridiculous.”
The city is one of the stops on the I Will Survive outback tour.
This is the second time in recent weeks that TEN has run foul of a local council mayor, following The Shire.
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- Tagged with I Will Survive, The Project, The Shire
10 Responses
Complete joke this story and a non-issue. Majority of South Australians call it Port Augutta. And for her to even bring race into it is ridiculous. She has a bit of a reputation for saying stupid things though.
Joy Baluch is overreacting to a throwaway line commonly used in SA to refer to her town – usually fondly.
For people that don’t know, the nickname of “Port-Au-Gutta” is supposedly derived from people within some Aboriginal communities having the inability to pronounce Port Augusta. So when non-Aboriginal people said it, it used to be somewhat of a mocking of the way they pronounced it, but these days is as widely said as any other word. I even know Aboriginal colleagues which jokingly pronounce it “Port-Au-Gutta”. So are they racist to their ancestors?
I think the mayor needs a reality check about how her own town is widely pronounced throughout South Australia.
Huh? Just a joke. Don’t get why she’s playing the race card either.
I live in South Australia and we always call it port au-gutta. We are aussies we take the piss out of everything. If you get offended then you are not an aussie.
Have people lost their sense of humour?
@Tomothyd
I agree with you.People have been calling it Port Au-gutta for as long as i can remember.Its a local term in SA and people do use it occasionally.A fuss over nothing.
Such a storm in a tea-cup by a mayor who has nothing else to do but complain. Saying Port Au-Gutta is a common thing in South Australia, which is where Hugh is from. There is barely a person I know, including Aboriginal people who don’t call it that now and then. Its like saying BrisVegas. There’s no derogatory or racist tones in saying Port Au-Gutta – it’s just a colloquial term.
I would suggest Mayor Joy Baluch needs to get a sense of humour and a personality bypass. I expect she’ll want me to apologise for that comment – fat chance 😉
PS: Am I missing what she meant by “particularly the Aboriginal community” ?