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Updated June 7, 2026 \u2014 6:49pm,first published 5:10pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n A Melbourne brothel owner has admitted helping to fund controversial \u201cDitch the Witch\u201d advertisements criticising Premier Jacinta Allan, which numerous politicians have slammed as sexist and misogynistic. <\/p>\n Franco Puleo, the owner of Gotham City brothel in South Melbourne, said the $105,000 advertising campaign had been paid for by him and other local business owners. He disagreed the slogan used was sexist.<\/p>\n \u201c[Allan] doesn\u2019t answer questions. She\u2019s not accountable to everything \u2026 It\u2019s just how people are feeling. That\u2019s what they\u2019re resorting to,\u201d Puleo said. \u201cThat\u2019s not a political ad. It\u2019s basically what the Victorian public feel.\u201d<\/p>\n Gotham City was the target of a drive-by shooting in April, believed to be connected with the city\u2019s spate of\u00a0attacks on hospitality venues<\/a>. The venue has also faced its share of legal issues, including a court battle with Bendigo Bank<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n The use of the slogan has been slammed by Allan and other MPs from both sides of politics, who called it out for sexism.<\/p>\n Trucks with billboards featuring the phrase, alongside images of Allan wearing a black pointed hat, have been travelling around Melbourne for about six weeks.<\/p>\n Allan condemned the use of the language in a social media post on Sunday afternoon, saying the ads were part of a secret and well-funded political campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cThe political debate in this country has become corrosive over the last few years,\u201d the premier said. \u201cSo much so that behaviour which would once have been condemned is now just another part of life.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are entitled to disagree with me. That\u2019s democracy. But I care that this attacks women. And I care about who\u2019s next.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cI cannot stand back and let Victoria become a place where this sort of language is fair game against any woman at work \u2013 or any woman in leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n The premier\u2019s statement was met with support from Animal Justice Party state MP Georgie Purcell, who wrote in a comment on Allan\u2019s post that sexism shouldn\u2019t be used as a tool within political disagreement or debate.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes all women and gender diverse people in public life \u2013 and everywhere \u2013 unsafe. Everybody has a responsibility to call it out, no matter our political views or criticisms of the government,\u201d Purcell said.<\/p>\n Former prime minister Julia Gillard said she was \u201cdisgusted\u201d by the billboards, in a statement posted to her own Instagram account on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n The same slogan was used against her <\/a>15 years ago during her time as leader and was widely condemned at the time, the statement said.<\/p>\n \u201cI am saddened to see \u2026 this tired old trope resurrected. I\u2019m also angry. Whoever funded the billboards bearing these signs should be outed for what they are \u2013 unimaginative, ugly sexists.\u201d<\/p>\n The state opposition also denounced the use of language featured on the trucks, saying the posters hadn\u2019t been endorsed or authorised by the Liberal Party.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t believe in that type of thing. We don\u2019t condone that kind of behaviour \u2026 the government are the problem, not the individual,\u201d shadow minister for housing David Southwick said at a press conference on Sunday.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also weighed in, saying sexist campaigns have no place in politics, no matter who you support.<\/p>\n A separate social media post from Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny also criticised the campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen in public life should not have to accept abuse and misogyny as part of the job. You can disagree with a politician. You can disagree with a government. That\u2019s democracy. Reducing a woman to a sexist slur is not,\u201d Kilkenny wrote.<\/p>\n At a different press conference on Sunday, recently appointed health minister Harriet Shing faced numerous questions about Allan\u2019s leadership and the performance of the government. She was similarly disapproving of the slogan.<\/p>\n \u201cIn recent years we\u2019ve seen this sort of \u2026 sexism take root in a way that\u2019s become more personal, more angry and more divisive. It\u2019s got absolutely no place in our political commentary. It should be condemned,\u201d Shing said.<\/p>\n The state government declined to provide further comment after one of the people behind the billboards was identified.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Trucks](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fe8645b83e700ceadfb2cd2a11384995981240b1.jpeg\")
Trucks featuring the controversial slogan have been travelling around Melbourne since May. <\/p>\n![\"Premier](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780342161_671_ad9a5fb2056f71cd6d75372341d0a63d5b453fef.jpeg\")
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Gemma Grant<\/a> is a city reporter at The Age. Contact her securely on Signal at gemmagrant.88Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated June 7, 2026 \u2014 6:49pm,first published 5:10pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":721636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-721635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=721635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/721636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}