'Ditch the witch': The return of brazen misogyny to Australian politics
By Emma Webster
I worked for Australia’s 27th Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. So when I saw Victoria’s Premier was subjected to a new campaign using words that were quoted in the infamous misogyny speech of 2012, I shook my head in disbelief, writes Emma Webster.
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Everything old is new again.
Whether that’s the effortless Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy aesthetic of the 90s, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott returning to politics as Liberal Party President, or the sexist quips of 2012 entering the 2026 Victorian election campaign.
I worked for Australia’s 27th Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. I was part of the team who collated Tony Abbott’s top ten sexist quotes - a research task that wasn’t particularly onerous or time-consuming.
When I saw Victoria’s Premier was subjected to a new campaign using words that were quoted in the infamous misogyny speech of 2012, I shook my head in disbelief. I naively thought “ditch the witch” would be confined to the political rhetoric of the last decade.
I sat and watched Gillard deliver the misogyny speech live. She stood at the dispatch box and unleashed the sort of speech you wished you could have mustered when you anxiously reflect on a disagreement you had hours earlier.
“I was offended when the Leader of the Opposition went outside the front of Parliament and stood next to a sign that said, ‘Ditch the witch.’ I was offended when the Leader of the Opposition stood next to a sign that described me a man’s bitch.”
Gillard thought her gender and the sexism she faced would wash away as people adjusted to life with their first female Prime Minister. Left unchecked, the misogyny and sexism only worsened.
Cartoonist Larry Pickering published a series of cartoons depicting Gillard entirely naked, often wearing a strap-on dildo. It was as if Pickering couldn’t fathom a Prime Minister without male genitalia.
The CEO of the Australian Agricultural Company, David Farley, during a speech in 2012, described Prime Minister Gillard as a “non-productive old cow”. In case you’re wondering, yes, that’s the very same David Farley who just won the Federal seat of Farrer as a One Nation candidate.
Everything old is new again.
I stood with Brittany Higgins at the March 4 Justice in Canberra and proudly walked beside her to the criminal and civil trials that followed. Many mistook my support for her as being political, as we came from different sides of the political aisle. Brittany a former Liberal staffer, me a former Labor staffer.
When politics is involved, often humanity is stripped away. I stood with Brittany because she was a friend; our political parties were irrelevant.
This week I attended the Australian Premiere of Silenced at the opening night of the Sydney Film Festival. Silenced, through the stories of different women, demonstrates how the law has been used by alleged perpetrators to silence survivors of gender-based violence and the journalists who report on these cases. It’s a problem faced by survivors, journos and media outlets across the world.
As we sat in a packed State Theatre watching Silenced, I was reminded of the toll of speaking up.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation animated series depicted Brittany as a pencil case with a zip, a crude resemblance to a vagina, that was passed around multiple sets of hands. A woman who chose to speak up, reduced to an inanimate object for cheap laughs, shock value and political gain. Irreverent to the tech-facilitated abuse this would help spur online.
Brittany’s courage to speak has led to reforms across the country for which we should all be grateful: the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill, the Jenkins Review, the ACT Evidence Act reform (2022) which removed a loophole that prevented video recordings of rape complainants’ evidence being replayed in retrials (also known as “Brittany’s law”), and Victorian court reforms for sexual assault survivors (2026) to name a few.
It’s undeniable that Parliament House is fundamentally a safer place for anyone who works there, because of Brittany.
I understand progress often isn’t linear. A quick look over to Trump’s America shows the erosion of DEI policies and women’s reproductive health, all leaping bounds back in time. It’s no coincidence that in Australia it took a Federal Cabinet and Parliament with majority women to add new oral contraceptives to the PBS, a wait of 30 years.
The difference between 2012 and 2026’s highly unimaginative “ditch the witch” saga, was how swiftly it was criticised in 2026. Women and men were quick to call the campaign out for what it is, except for two notable individuals: Pauline Hanson and Jess Wilson.
It is possible to disagree on policy and politics and still call out misogyny and sexism. Political leaders like Julia Gillard or Jacinta Allan or former political staffers like Brittany Higgins are made of the same flesh and blood as all of us.
While I freely welcome fashion trends from decades gone by, the political discourse of ‘ditch the witch’ must stay in the Salem witch trials of 17th century colonial Massachusetts. This doesn’t just hurt women; it hurts all of us.
Our political leaders should be focused on shaping policies that make the world better for all of us, not being subjected to personal attacks based on gender.
When misogyny shapes politics, policy stops being evidence-based and starts being prejudice based. And prejudice is a poor foundation for good government.
About the author
Emma Webster has advised some of Australia’s most senior political leaders. Her experience spans major policy and advocacy campaigns across infrastructure, education, economic development, family violence prevention, and First Nations empowerment. As a Partner at Hawker Britton, Emma now spends her days translating politics into outcomes for her clients.
Thank you for sharing this and can’t fault what you said. But I do want to add that I experienced both racism and classism from white Labor women (claiming to be progressive) while working in the Gillard and Rudd Governments.
I have seen One Nation, and Liberal supporters likening the Voldemort references of Peter Dutton during the last election to the misogyny of Jacinta Allan. Their supporters telling her to "suck it up", that all politicians face this type of criticism. I don't think the Voldemort comparisons and misogyny are necessarily equivalent. Comparing Peter Dutton to a fictional villain is a criticism of his perceived politics, personality, or authoritarian style. Whether criticism of Jacinta Allan is misogynistic depends on whether it is rooted in gender based stereotypes or attacks that wouldn't be directed at a male politician. The relevant question isn't whether the criticism is harsh, but whether it's based on gender.