Jacinta Allan has dismissed leadership speculation and says she will continue to call out \u201csexist, misogynist, hateful\u201d commentary directed at her, despite the One Nation leader Pauline Hanson\u2019s advice to \u201csuck it up, sweetheart\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, the Victorian premier criticised a truck-mounted billboard, which has been travelling around Melbourne for several weeks, featuring AI-generated images of her wearing a black pointed hat alongside the phrase \u201cditch the witch\u201d.<\/p>\n
Julia Gillard<\/a> \u2013 who was subjected to the phrase during her tenure as prime minister, Anthony Albanese and the Victoria opposition leader, Jess Wilson, also condemned the billboard.<\/p>\n But Hanson told Sky News on Monday morning she had been called a witch \u201clong before\u201d Allan.<\/p>\n Later that evening, she doubled down on her criticism of the premier, saying it was \u201cno wonder they called her a witch\u201d, given growing crime and debt and allegations of corruption in the construction union in Victoria.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cProbably stronger words might be used for her, but they feel the sooner she\u2019s gone, the better,\u201d Hanson told Sky News. \u201cJacinta \u2013 if the shoe fits, then wear it.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking at a press conference in Melbourne on Tuesday, Allan said: \u201cPauline Hanson chooses to barrack for the bullies. I choose to fight them.\u201d<\/p>\n Allan said the billboards deliberately chose \u201clanguage and visual imagery that speaks to centuries old sexism against women\u201d and she was grateful to see Gillard and others calling it out.<\/p>\n \u201cIt made my heart sing to see Julia\u2019s response, and also to see the response from so many other women and men in our community, because we\u2019ve got to draw the line,\u201d Allan said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s too much division, too much hate. I don\u2019t have a problem if people have a different view \u2013 that\u2019s democracy \u2013 but what is wrong is when difference is used, is weaponised in a sexist, misogynist, hateful way, and I\u2019ll always call that out.\u201d<\/p>\n Allan said she had seen reports that Labor MPs had revived conversations about a possible leadership spill against her but dismissed it as \u201cnavel gazing\u201d by anonymous sources at a time most Victorians were focused on cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>\n \u201cI am absolutely determined to see this through, because when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and I am all in for this challenge,\u201d she said of her leadership.<\/p>\n She added that she didn\u2019t need polls to tell her the \u201cold rules of politics have changed\u201d.<\/p>\n A Freshwater Strategy poll conducted for the Herald Sun, published on Tuesday, showed Victorian Labor\u2019s primary vote has slumped to 23%, compared with the Coalition\u2019s 27% and One Nation\u2019s 25%.<\/p>\n \u201cOne Nation is cannibalising the Liberal party vote, the National party vote, and I will also acknowledge it is taking a slice out of the Labor vote as well,\u201d Allan said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to see that, hear that, understand that, keep listening to Victorians, but more importantly, take action to help people right now with those pressures that are real.\u201d<\/p>\n The poll also showed Allan\u2019s personal popularity had dropped five points for a net favourability rating of minus 37 points \u2013 well behind Wilson, who has a positive net rating of 15. Sixty-two per cent of respondents said Allan should be replaced as Labor leader before the election.<\/p>\n In March, Allan dismissed similar rumours<\/a> of a challenge as being driven by \u201cfew scallywags out there who might need a bit of a cuddle\u201d. In the lead up to the 2025 federal election there was also talk of a possible spill if Labor performed poorly in Victoria, but it ended up picking up additional seats<\/a>.<\/p>\n Next week, state parliament sits for the last time before the six-week winter break. For some within the Labor caucus, it is considered the final opportunity to mount a challenge before the November poll.<\/p>\n The deputy premier, Ben Caroll, is considered the most likely challenger but, as a member of Labor\u2019s right faction, it remains unclear whether he could attract sufficient support from the left-dominated caucus to oust Allan.<\/p>\n The Victorian Liberal MP, Matthew Guy, told reporters on Tuesday it didn\u2019t matter who led the Labor party.<\/p>\n \u201cVictorians aren\u2019t looking for a change in premier, they\u2019re looking for a change in government,\u201d Guy said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jacinta Allan has dismissed leadership speculation and says she will continue to call out \u201csexist, misogynist, hateful\u201d commentary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-724461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724461","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=724461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}