‘Disgusted’: Gillard and Albanese condemn ‘ditch the witch’ campaign against Victorian premier Jacinta Allan

Former Australian Prime Ministers Julia Gillard and Anthony Albanese have strongly condemned a truck-mounted billboard campaign in Melbourne that targeted Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan with misogynistic language and imagery. The billboards, which have been circulating for about six weeks, displayed AI-generated pictures of Allan wearing a witch's hat and sporting warts, interspersed with advertisements for a brothel.

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We want to encourage women to enter public life and it should be a contest of ideas, not personal attacks.

Albanese described the campaign as "sexist" and "totally unacceptable," stating it has "no place in public life." He stressed the importance of encouraging women to enter politics and advocated for a "contest of ideas, not personal attacks." The Prime Minister also called for a reduction in political "temperature," expressing concern over the increasing threats against politicians and urging an end to personal denigration in public discourse.

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What I don’t want to do is to have a press conference in this courtyard after a tragedy.

Gillard expressed her "disgust" at the reappearance of the "ditch the witch" slogan, a phrase she endured during her own tenure as prime minister fifteen years prior. She noted that while sexism had lessened in the political mainstream, social media remained a "toxic sewer." Gillard lamented the regression, stating, "I am saddened to see that improvement cast aside and this tired old trope resurrected."

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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.

The campaign echoes past instances of misogyny in Australian politics. In 2011, then-opposition leader Tony Abbott stood beside a "ditch the witch" sign at a rally. Gillard famously addressed such attacks in her "misogyny speech" in parliament, which gained international attention. The current campaign's use of the phrase and demeaning imagery highlights the persistent challenges women in public life continue to face.

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This was a slogan used against me as prime minister fifteen years ago. It was roundly condemned then.