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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy

Former union head Joe de Bruyn’s speech condemning abortion and same-sex marriage sparks walkout at Catholic university

Joe de Bruyn
Former union leader Joe de Bruyn, pictured in 2012. He told Australian Catholic University graduates that abortion was the ‘single biggest killer’ of human life that ‘must be ended’. Photograph: AAP

A former union head has doubled down on comments he made at an Australian Catholic University (ACU) graduation ceremony which compared abortion to the “human toll of World War II” and alleged same-sex marriage went against “every society on Earth”.

The speech, delivered by a former national president of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA), Joe de Bruyn, prompted a mass walkout at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Monday.

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