The Source: Opposition Leader’s unusual ally in the face of misogyny claims

Brad Battin is under fire for appearing at a rally where Jacinta Allan was targeted with a vile slogan. But what was he doing there with a former rival in the first place?

Brad Battin and the Liberals are facing heat over the sign written on a fire truck. Picture: Nadir Kinani

Putting the squeeze on Victoria’s movers, shakers and headline makers.

Brad Battin just can’t catch a break.

Days after his media director departed, the Opposition Leader seems to have unknowingly walked himself into a misogyny media frenzy which has drawn comparisons to the days of Abbott vs. Gillard.

Climbing aboard a CFA fire truck at an anti-tax rally on Sunday beside his new buddy, United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall, Battin reportedly failed to spy a vile “ditch the bitch” message scrawled in blue marker on the side of a truck.

A fire truck with the ‘ditch the bitch’ message written on it.

Not the one he was standing on. A different one, somewhere down the road in a carpark, at least according to what The Source has heard.

The misogynistic message, aimed at Premier Jacinta Allan, has been compared to the infamous “ditch the witch” poster that Tony Abbott parked himself in front of back in 2011.

On Tuesday, it was Acting Premier Jaclyn Symes who took a swing, blaming the Liberal Party’s “deep-rooted” issues with women for Battin’s inability to spot the message.

“Last year Brad Battin turned a blind eye when neo-Nazis attended an event he organised and now he’s turning a blind eye to sexist slogans at rallies he attends – where does the extreme, incompetent Liberal leader draw the line?” she thundered.

For what it’s worth, Battin and Marshall both reckon they didn’t spot the slogan at the event.

That’s not out of the realm of possibility. What is – or would have been years ago – is the idea that the Liberal leader and the union boss are suddenly political allies.

Having ruthlessly attacked each other for years over Victoria’s fire services, Battin and Marshall are now united over Allan’s new emergency services tax hike.

The Source can only surmise that the Liberal leader is really in need of a friend.

Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall and Battin are united in their opposition to the emergency services tax. Picture: Valeriu Campan

No love lost between The Project and its struggling replacement

There were some disgruntled former workers at The Project who weren’t invited to the show’s farewell party, as The Source previously reported.

And now at least one is taking a bat to 10 News+, which replaced The Project at 6pm after the show’s 16-year run.

Amelia Brace and Denham Hitchcock are the anchors of 10 News+. Picture: 10 News

While tuning into Saturday night’s almost unwatchable AFL clash between Essendon and Richmond, the ex-staffer couldn’t resist a subtle dig.

“10 News+ is easier to watch than this game,’’ this person posted to their social media account.

Network Ten’s new news offering has set tongues wagging for all the wrong reasons since replacing The Project.

It launched with just 291,000 viewers and has been in decline ever since, plummeting out of the nightly top-40 program list with fewer than 100,000 viewers on average across the country’s five-city metro market.

“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” a network spokesperson said in response, maintaining they were “fully committed to 10 News+.”

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Originally published as The Source: Opposition Leader’s unusual ally in the face of misogyny claims