Robbie Farah statement

Wests Tigers Captain Robbie Farah has issued the following statement.

I have written to Prime Minister Julia Gillard today to apologise for any hurt caused by a tweet I posted in 2011.

As you are aware I have been vocal in recent days about criticising those who say some pretty disgraceful things through social media and I have appreciated your support in relation to that cause.

It is an experience that has highlighted the hurtful nature of unthinking comments and even those which are sometimes put forward as ‘black humour’.

In the course of this I have been alerted to a ‘tweet’ I made last year in relation to the Prime Minister which was in hindsight clearly offensive.

At the time I did think about what I had done and removed the ‘tweet’ soon after posting it but that of course doesn’t repair the damage.

I make no excuse and offer my sincere apologies. I can only say that I have learnt a lot in recent days and I hope that everyone in the community can learn about the pain that we can cause through such comments.

Hopefully the whole situation will only serve to encourage everyone to think about what we are really saying before we hit the ‘send’ key.