Senator Larissa Waters hits back at trolls 'grandstanding' comments

Senator who became the first mother to breastfeed her baby in parliament has hit back at ‘trolls’ who accused her of ‘grandstanding.’

Greens MP Larissa Waters cradled her three-month-old Alia Joy while delivering a motion in late June.

Waters denied the move was a ‘spectacle’ on her Facebook page on Sunday and told people to ‘get over it.’

In May, she became the first representative to nurse a child in federal parliament, and has since brought Alia Joy to several divisions and events.

Her actions have been met with delight from fellow colleagues, including Senator Richard Di Natale who was seen playfully holding little Alia.

However, some people saw the move as a publicity stunt and accused the Queensland mother of using her child to get into the spotlight, reports Daily Mail.

Waters shared an article to her Facebook page and responded by saying: ‘trolls don’t usually bother me, but I had to say something about this, for all breastfeeding mums.’

‘Feeding a hungry baby is not grandstanding and it’s certainly not a spectacle. Women have always worked and reared children, whether that work was paid in the workplace or unpaid in the home.’

‘Get over it.’

Her post has attracted nearly 2000 reactions. Mostly of support. There will always be those not so understanding comments as well though.

Good on her! It is fantastic to see a new mum getting on with her career and not pulling any punches.

Where do you stand? Does a baby belong in the senate?

Share your comments below.

Image via Facebook

13 Comments

- - mom94125 said
  - 05 Oct 2017
    10:51 pm
yep a natural thing it is but a workplace is still a workplace. i don’t mind if your employer wants to be flexible with you and help you work around your schedule but this seems to be a bit over the top. have a break and breastfeed- fine. working while you breastfeed- bit compromising. i’m not suggesting that she should hide in a toilet cubicle either!

- - Ellen said
  - 01 Sep 2017
    3:44 am
Good on her for taking her stand ! Breastfeeding is normal, natural and beautiful. Ignore the trolls.

- - june11 said
  - 11 Jul 2017
    6:46 pm
She may be the only lady to have stood up in Parliament while breastfeeding but she may not be the only Mum to have done so but sitting down.

- - taynik46 said
  - 05 Jul 2017
    9:48 am
Great job – maybe taking her daughter into Parliament will remind the politicians of who they are making this country for – it might make them actually get off their butts and make some decision about our future as a country so Alia will have a great country to live in when she is older!, not the current excuse we have now!

- - mom101628 said
  - 04 Jul 2017
    10:02 pm
I’m amazed she didn’t take paid parental leave.

- - mom245126 said
  - 04 Jul 2017
    9:54 pm
Good on her!

- - mom71820 said
  - 04 Jul 2017
    7:35 pm
It’s natural, it’s beautiful & it’s necessary- get over it people!

- - BellaB said
  - 04 Jul 2017
    5:33 pm
That’s the kind of work that can continue without the breast feeding having much impact. So why not?
- mom93821 replied
  
  05 Jul 2017 , 6:09 am
  Exactly – the promotion of breast feeding in public and it being normal is fabulous my opinion.
- - mom93821 said
  - 04 Jul 2017
    4:52 pm
I agree with her comment – Get over it! Breast feeding is normal and she is in a fortunate position to be able to do it – I wish all mothers had this opportunity.

- - nealsq said
  - 04 Jul 2017
    4:22 pm
The baby was hungry and she is a breast feeding mother, should they have shut down for the 20 or so minutes it took for her to feed the baby??

- - mom90758 said
  - 04 Jul 2017
    2:22 pm
I think it’s good. If breastfeeding doesn’t disrupt the work at least.

- - mom206279 said
  - 04 Jul 2017
    12:43 pm
Who cares if it was a publicity stunt? We need women to breastfeed so publicly to normalise it. Especially with the rubbish that is shows like yummy mummies doing everything they can to shame women who dare feed their child in public. I bottle fed from 2 days old and I say go for it. If you want to breastfeed and are able to then get your tits out anywhere your baby happens to be hungry!