Greer takes a swipe at Connolly

Feminist writer Germaine Greer has launched a scathing attack on Billy Connolly for making money out of Australia.

The comic says he loves the country, where he is something of a comedy hero, but Greer slammed him for cynically exploiting those fans for financial gain.

Her outburst comes as she tried to defend herself after upsetting her antipodean countrymen.

In a newspaper article written in Britain, Greer said she would never live in Australia. The piece was, inevitably, reprinted in The Australian, provoking a backlash back home.

Australian premier John Howard even waded in, describing the author as "hopelessly out of touch", adding: "What she basically says is that the average Australian is too stupid to think about anything the least bit philosophical or important."

Now Greer has penned her reply - and tried to drag the Big Yin's name into the row.

She wrote that Connolly always said that "Australia is my favourite place" because he knew it was "the right answer" to pander to its citizens.

"Billy repeats it with slight variations whenever he gets the cue, which is often," she wrote. "He is never asked why, if he's so keen on the place, he and his Australian wife [Pamela Stephenson] choose to live elsewhere."

"Connolly makes a lot of money in Australia and could probably afford to live there.

"I make no money in Australia and spend all my spare cash there."

A spokeswoman for Connolly refused to get involved in the argument.

Published: 20 Apr 2004