Anthony Albanese lashes ‘sexist’ campaign targeting Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan
Anthony Albanese warned he did not want “a tragedy” as he slammed a “sexist” campaign targeting Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan.
Anthony Albanese linked a sexist campaign targeting Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan to threats against high office holders, telling reporters he does not want to host another press conference “after a tragedy”.
A billboard sporting the slogan “Ditch the Witch” was spotted in the Melbourne CBD on Friday night, according to the Herald Sun.
The slogan was previously used against former prime minister Julia Gillard amid fierce debate over the 2011 carbon tax and comes after Ms Allan was targeted by a seperate, more crude slogan stating “ditch the b***h” on a fire truck at a rally in 2025.
The Prime Minister said the campaign was “totally unacceptable” and he was worried about “the misogyny involved here”.
“We want to encourage women to enter public life, and it should be a contest of ideas, not personal attacks,” he said.
“I mean, some of the personal way in which mainstream media as well has characterised people in public life has just got to stop.
“You can have a disagreement with people’s policy position by all means. You don’t have to denigrate people in such a personal way. It has got to stop.
“Young girls will see that depiction of a premier as a witch, just like the denigration that Julia Gillard suffered from as prime minister, and it is just not on.”
Mr Albanese, who has previously spoken out about threats against him, some of which have resulted in charges being laid, urged Australians to “turn the temperature down”.
“What I don’t want to do is to have a press conference in this courtyard after a tragedy,” he said.
“But, unless we turn the temperature down … there are multiple people, including some still on remand for threats at our level, at my level. There was one in court again on Friday, one in court the Friday beforehand.
“Some of the depiction that goes on, whether it be the extraordinary depiction of Premier Allan or others, I just say, turn the temperature down, either that or accept responsibility for the consequences of it because the consequences undermine the opportunity, and whether people will go into public life and be prepared to make sacrifices, which are made for what is an honourable profession.
“We need to have much more respect for each other, and public discourse will be all the better for it.”
Franco Puleo, owner of the Gotham City brothel in South Melbourne, told The Sydney Morning Herald the $105,000 advertising campaign had been paid for by him and other local business owners and disagreed that the slogan used was sexist.
“(Ms Allan) doesn’t answer questions. She’s not accountable to everything … It’s just how people are feeling. That’s what they’re resorting to,” Mr Puleo said.
“That’s not a political ad. It’s basically what the Victorian public feel.”
Mr Puleo is not suggested to have any connection to threats to Mr Albanese or to have made threats against Ms Allan.
Taking to social media to slam Friday’s campaign, Ms Allan said “sexism just has no place in out political debate. Full stop”.
“People are entitled to disagree with me. That’s democracy,” she said.
“But I care that this attacks women.
“And I care about who’s next.
“The political debate in this country has become corrosive over the last few years.”
Ms Allan claimed Friday’s campaign was “part of a secret and well-funded political campaign”.
She said behaviour which “would once have been condemned” was now “just another part of life”, and the media had failed to call it out.
“They report on this like it’s fair game, like it’s normal. But nothing about this is normal,” Ms Allan said.
“If you don’t take a stand against this creeping culture, it has a tendency of taking over. You only have to look at America to know that.
“I cannot stand back and let Victoria become a place where this sort of language is fair game against any woman at work – or any woman in leadership.
“If we don’t draw a line, the line will keep moving.”
Ms Allan said she wanted her children to grow up knowing that “women deserve the same respect as men”.
“I want girls to know that they should never need to aim lower just to feel safer,” she said.
“And, I want boys to know that they don’t have to put women ‘in their place’ to make their own way in the world. Sexism hurts everyone.”
Ms Gillard backed the Premier, taking to social media to air her disgust at the slogan’s return.
“This was a slogan used against me as Prime Minister fifteen years ago,” Ms Gillard wrote in a statement shared on Instagram.
“It was roundly condemned then. In the years since, my view has been that things were slowly improving for women in politics. More women are leading, sexism hasn’t gone away but it is less ferocious in the political mainstream, though social media continues to be a toxic sewer.
“I am saddened to see that improvement cast aside and this tired old trope resurrected.”
Ms Allan, who took over from controversial ex-premier Daniel Andrews in 2023, faces a tough fight when voters return to the polls in November amid falling popularity, controversy around infrastructure and crime, and a surge in support for One Nation.
The Bendigo MP has faced questions over the future of her leadership in recent days.
