Rita Panahi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1976 (age 48–49) Pine Bluff, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Citizenship | Australian |
| Alma mater | Swinburne University |
| Occupation(s) | Political commentator, columnist |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | Rita Panahi onTwitter |
Rita Panahi (born 1976) is an Australian conservative political commentator and columnist of Iranian descent. She is a columnist in theHerald Sun, owned byNews Corp Australia, is the host ofThe Rita Panahi Show,Lefties Losing It andThe Friday Show onSky News Australia and is a contributor toSunrise on theSeven Network. She is on the radio at3AW and2GB. Her views have been described as conservative and right-wing.
Rita Panahi was born inPine Bluff, Arkansas, United States, the child of Iranian parents.[1] Her mother was a midwife, and her father was an agricultural engineer. The family returned to Iran during her infancy, living on the coast and moving toTehran by 1979. Her mother worked for a hospital associated with theShah at the time of theIranian Revolution.[1]
Panahi described her parents as "relaxed Muslims who were not particularly political". However, her family was targeted by theShia Islamist government of theAyatollah Khomeini. In 1984, they were accepted by Australia asrefugees and subsequently lived in Melbourne.[1]
Panahi worked in banking while attendingMonash University, studying but not completing aBachelor of Business in Finance. She joinedAustralian Young Labor and volunteered in the1996 election campaign. Panahi worked as a personal banker atColonial Mutual and was the youngest branch manager in the company's history.[1] She has a child with an undisclosed father and was a single parent as of 2016.[1]
When she was in her 30s, feeling her lack oftertiary qualifications was unfinished business, she enrolled in and completed aMaster of Business Administration fromSwinburne University.[1]
Panahi initially wrote for the daily free commuter newspapermX, writing a weekly sports gossip column. Her column was picked up for a second year and by 2007 she was a regular guest on the AM sports radio stationSEN. In September 2007, Panahi began working for theHerald Sun, published by the Herald and Weekly Times (HWT), a subsidiary ofNews Corp Australia.[1] Panahi is also a regular guest onSky News Australia andSunrise on the Seven Network. She is also a radio commentator on3AW and2GB.[1]
In March 2018, Panahi began hostingThe Friday Show onSky News Live.[2]
Panahi has been described as conservative[1][3][4] and right-wing.[1] Conversely, she has been described as 'surprisingly' progressive on some social issues.[1] Writing forSBS,Margaret Simons observed that Panahi hateshomophobia and has argued in favour of women choosingsingle motherhood, as she has.[1]
Against accusations of Australia being systemically racist, Panahi argued that Australia should not be characterised as racist.[1]
In January 2017, Panahi was encouraged byMichael Kroger to stand forLiberal Party pre-selection in the Victorian state electorate ofFrankston.[4]
Panahi is aformer Muslim and is critical of aspects of Islam. She has accused what she regards as theregressive left for abetting Islamism in the West, stating "the former excuse behaviour that they would never tolerate from non-Muslims." She has described Western feminists who view modesty veils such asburkas,niqābs andhijabs as symbols of diversity or empowerment as an example of such abetment.[5] However, she opposes a complete ban on Muslim immigration. She has argued against the burka[1] and has criticised Western women who wear hijabs in solidarity with Muslim women, arguing that the hijab is a political symbol as well as a religious one, and that it was forced on her as a child in Iran. She has supported statements against veils made by fellow former Muslims such asDarya Safai andYasmine Mohammed.[6]
In January 2015, Panahi clashed withAndrew O'Keefe onWeekend Sunrise over her comments regarding Muslims. Panahi stated: "We need to start discussing intelligently the issues we have with the Muslim community". O'Keefe replied: "Every time afundamentalist Christian in the United States bombs anabortion clinic or bombs asynagogue, do we hold all the Christians in the world accountable for that?". Panahi responded: "Andrew, that's such a nonsensical argument... We've got to stop doing what you just did and pretending like Islam is like any other religion, as far as being behind incidents of terror."[7] In January 2015, she wrote an article titled "Islam, you have a very serious problem" forThe Daily Telegraph.[8] News websiteNew Matilda published an open letter by an 18-year old returned expatriate critical of Panahi's article.[9]
In a column inThe Australian, Panahi has argued in favour of stopping the boats, and strongly supported Australia's humanitarian intake through regular means.[citation needed] Theoffshore detention camps, which have been criticised byhuman rights organisations,[10] are, she says, an uncomfortable necessity to deter desperate people from attempting the dangerous sea voyage.[1]
Panahi said that she was previously in favour ofrepublicanism but now supports retaining theMonarchy of Australia, arguing that monarchy is a flawed system but "the reality is that it works for Australia. We have a stable system of government with afigurehead who is benign, much admired and not interested in interfering in our affairs." She has also expressed opposition to the views ofAustralian Republic Movement's former chairmanPeter FitzSimons and agreed with an assessment made by former SenatorDavid Leyonhjelm that debates over the monarchy is a non-issue for average Australians but one obsessively pushed by republicans.[11] However, Panahi has criticised the political statements made byMeghan Markle andPrince Harry, arguing they have "trashed" the legacy ofQueen Elizabeth. Prior to the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022, Panahi opined that the crown should be passed down toPrince William instead of his father,Charles.[12][13]
Ahead of the2020 United States presidential election, Panahi maintained that while she had some disagreements and reservations aboutDonald Trump, she favoured his re-election and argued that a Trump victory would be more beneficial to Australian national security over aBiden presidency. She furthermore accused the media of ignoring the increase in black, gay, and Hispanic support for Trump in order to accuse him of racism.[14][15]