Plibersek accuses Mafs of platforming ‘coercive control’ after contestant wanted a woman ‘obedient’ like a dog
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/04/mafs-coercive-control-plibersek-ntwnfb
Plibersek accuses Mafs of platforming ‘coercive control’ after contestant wanted a woman ‘obedient’ like a dog
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/04/mafs-coercive-control-plibersek-ntwnfb
10 Comments
They have a history of having awful, abusive people on the show.
The fact it’s still on the air after their repeated, intentionally dangerous acts is disgusting.
I still look back on the season of this show that was airing as Australia was going through a Plebiscite on Same Sex Marriage.
What a set of circumstances they were.
Such an abusive social experiment as mafs should never be on tv. Horrible people chosen by “experts” for their behavior patterns. Watched one of the first episodes years ago, and that was one too many. I don’t understand the people that think it is good tv.
Sometimes I wonder though if its educational for the MAFS audience to see that behaviour dissected and called out
people wondering what’s wrong with Australia’s dating culture… amongst other things this show is why… I mean it’s meant to be cheap, trashy entertainment but people use it as a guide… ie embrace tech by using dating apps
The ‘relationship advisors’ on this show are the ones that get me. They go along with every toxic idea the producers come up with, giving it a pseudo-scientific justification.
Talk about a deal with the devil. The guy (John Aiken?) apparently is a trained psychologist, which makes it worse. He would know the psychological damage that’s being done. But being famous and getting a big pay packet is more important to him.
Hot take here, highlighting and acknowledging these behaviours and calling problematic behaviour out (and why) on national tv and the broader public discourse is better than ignoring it or pretending it doesn’t happen in a significant number of relationships.
I hope Plibersek applies greater attention and resasoning when she’s doing proper ministerial work and not grandstanding for headlines that speak to people who’ll never watch the show but will happily “tsk tsk, such low brow trash for the under class”.
Firstly, the guy said he doesn’t want actually want a dog.
> Plibersek said we needed to call out this type of misogyny and that government can only do so much.
FFS the bloody show itself calls it out, the guy is presented as a clown, the other contestants all call him out, and the presenters of the show directly call him out.
Nothing about the show presents coercive control as normal, if she’d even watched the show she’d know that.
If she’d paid just a little bit more attention, she’d have noted that Laura Byrne (one of the panel hosts) did an excellent job of not letting the guy of the hook, then engaged with him and explained things till he had a bit of a lightbulb moment.
It might be trashy twaddle, but it was a pretty good example of positive change by not brow beating those we disagree with, but leading them down the path to seeing their errors.
From the government using some returning Australian Syrian women and children as a political football that is a little rich.
Imagine if her very government elevated a man to high office who joked on twitter about drugging and raping women?
Oh wait, they just did that on Monday.
Posturing dickheads need to walk their talk.