ACU to reimburse attenders and offer counselling after Joe de Bruyn’s anti-same-sex marriage speech

Vice-chancellor confirms university were aware of contents of former union leader's graduation address ahead of time

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The Australian Catholic University will reimburse attenders of a graduation ceremony where Joe de Bruyn sparked a walkout with a speech denouncing abortion and same-sex marriage, as the university also revealed it had urged the former union chief to reconsider his remarks before he delivered them.

De Bruyn's address, delivered on Monday evening, prompted major backlash after he compared abortion to the human toll of world war two" and alleged same-sex marriage went against every society on earth".

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