Salacious gossip, a photo scandal and death threats have dogged Victorian MP Georgie Purcell – but she won’t stop fighting
Salacious gossip, a photo scandal and death threats have dogged Victorian MP Georgie Purcell – but she won’t stop fighting
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Exclusive: Her social media presence resonates with younger voters but it comes with a ‘horrific’ dark side that has made her consider quitting. There were several points in 2024 when Victorian upper house MP Georgie Purcell thought about quitting politics.
![[Purcell speaks during a protest opposing the opening of duck hunting season in Melbourne.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7abdf675a6ec173c7a2f28a1689f4175420d4441/0_0_6883_4591/master/6883.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
There was the moment when the state Labor government, despite launching its own inquiry that recommended outlawing duck hunting, chose to let it continue – undermining the very goal that motivated Purcell to enter parliament. Then, just a day later, she found herself the subject of international headlines – not for her reaction to the announcement – but for a photo edited to make her breasts look bigger and expose her midriff, broadcast on the evening news.
![[Purcell at the age of four, with her birthday present – a battery farm hen purchased for $1.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/42e2e24cee496e79f05608d937f8619a22b75c87/0_0_1600_2095/master/1600.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
There was the “constant gossip” in the corridors of parliament, which only intensified when her relationship with a federal Labor MP was made public before either of them were ready. And through it all, a relentless barrage of misogynistic abuse, rape and death threats on social media.
![[Georgie Purcell, at her home in Kyneton, Victoria with Kitty’, one of her three rescue cats.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e66aaa4a8387b26e2ac8b7b626542016018581c6/0_0_5164_3443/master/5164.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“I joke about the online criticism but it’s definitely a coping mechanism, it’s actually quite horrific,” the Animal Justice party MP says. “The worst part is how immune I’ve become to it. It’s not normal to read this sort of stuff with a straight face.
![[Labor member for Macnamara, Josh Burns, and Purcell at the 2024 Midwinter Ball in 2024.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8bc6f851116199211c148db80e09f432437a59f3/0_0_4903_7355/master/4903.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“It’s made me start asking myself, can I go on? Can I keep doing this?. “And do I even want to?”. Purcell’s path into politics followed a familiar route: she worked in the union movement, then in superannuation and for former Animal Justice party MP Andy Meddick.
![[Georgie with Alfie, one of her two horses.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/29d192759cffd662e746a3ec6b0148f0848ab8f3/0_0_4769_3179/master/4769.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
