Key Points
- A billboard truck carrying the slogan “Ditch the Witch” and an image of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has been seen around Melbourne.
- It has been condemned as “sexist” and reviving the “tired old trope” used against former prime minister Julia Gillard.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have strongly criticized a billboard truck campaign they labeled as “sexist.” The advertisement, featuring Allan’s picture along with the phrase “Ditch the Witch,” was spotted in Melbourne, drawing widespread condemnation.
This slogan, previously directed at former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, has resurfaced, prompting Gillard to express her dismay over the revival of such derogatory language.
The truck, seen navigating Melbourne’s central business district on Friday evening, displayed an altered image of Allan, depicting her with a witch’s hat.
In a statement shared on social media, Premier Allan, who is gearing up for a state election this November, indicated that the truck was part of a “secret and well-funded political campaign” circulating through Melbourne.
“There is absolutely no room for sexism in political discourse,” Allan declared emphatically.
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“People are entitled to disagree with me. That’s democracy. But I care that this attacks women.”
Albanese also condemned the campaign.
“You can have a disagreement with people’s policy position by all means,” Albanese said during a press conference at Parliament House on Monday. “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.”
The slogan was infamously used against Gillard in 2011, when then-opposition leader Tony Abbott stood in front of placards bearing the phrase — as well as signs calling her “Juliar” and “[Greens leader] Bob Brown’s bitch” — at an anti-carbon tax rally in Canberra.
In an Instagram post, Gillard — who later referenced the signs in her famous 2012 anti-misogyny speech — said the slogan had been “roundly condemned” at the time.
“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,” she said in an Instagram post.
“I am saddened to see that improvement cast aside and this tired old trope resurrected.”
The Age newspaper reported that Melbourne brothel owner Franco Puleo had admitted helping to fund the controversial campaign against Allan, along with other local businesses.
But he denied the slogan was sexist.
“[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,” he reportedly said.
“That’s not a political ad. It’s basically what the Victorian public feel.”
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