‘Chill out’: Anthony Albanese on Aussie cancel culture

The Prime Minister says no one would run for office if they were held accountable for things they said 20 years ago.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hit out over cancel culture urging political parties and the media to “chill out” over future Gen Z political candidates’ social media posts.

Revealing he wouldn’t like his own musings in Young Labor to have been captured in the age of social media, Mr Albanese has warned the world has changed.

And he’s suggested that if we keep cancelling candidates with questionable social media posts, there will be no one left to run for office.

“People need to chill out about stuff that people will have on social media,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged calm on cancelling people for old comments. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“You know, if people are held to account for what a 21-year-old has on social media in ten years time, then we won’t have anyone willing to put their hand up in public life.”

Mr Albanese said he was worried that the impact was corrosive on political life, while noting that people did have to be accountable for their own actions.

“You know, it needs to change. The whole way that we deal with those issues as part of the way of dealing with it,’’ he said.

Mr Albanese added that the Labor Party didn’t go through MPs’ media posts before they were made, although he failed to mention candidates’ hot takes on social media are regularly vetted.

In many cases, candidates now delete their social media posts before running for political office, although both sides of politics have the means to unearth material on accounts that are deleted.

Anthony Albanese at the NSW Young Labor Conference in 1986.

Both sides of politics have opposition research teams during the election that trawl candidates’ social media posts for self-published dirt on candidates.

“We don’t go through what people put on social media. It’s up to them. They’re accountable for it. But there’s no centralisation of that, because it just wouldn’t work. It just wouldn’t work at all,’’ Mr Albanese said.

“And I understand the pressures that young people, you know, are under, which is very different from the pressures that we’re under.

“You know, I wouldn’t particularly appreciate everything being documented when I was in Young Labor, let me tell you.”

When cancel culture strikes

In 2019, Labor’s candidate for the seat of Melbourne, Luke Creasey, withdrew from the election race after social media posts came to light that showed him engaging in inappropriate jokes about rape, lesbians and Catholics.

In a statement, Mr Creasey said the comments did not reflect his views today but that his actions were “an important lesson for young people that your social media footprint will follow you”.

“While I made those awful comments many years ago, and they in no way reflect the views I hold today, I understand – especially as a member of the LGBTIQ community – that we need to be careful about what we share or like on social media,” he said.

Former opposition leader Bill Shorten faces the media amid the Luke Creasey saga. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

“I think this is a really important lesson for young people – that your social media footprint will follow you.”

Then-opposition leader Bill Shorten was asked when the “young and dumb defence” stopped applying.

“Stupid is stupid is stupid,” he responded.

What PM said during the election

Just weeks ago, the Prime Minister took a swing at several candidates running for the Liberal Party including over social media posts.

“You compare it with the other mob,” he said.

“They’ve got a candidate for the Senate here, who’s connected up with Illuminati rubbish.

“There’s a bloke who blames feminists for US election results.”

Anthony Albanese hit out at Liberal candidates’ posts. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

LNP candidate Jeremy Neal, who ran in the marginal Queensland seat of Leichhardt, apologised after a series of resurfaced social media posts, including some of which blamed feminists for Donald Trump’s 2020 US presidential election loss.

“What is he saying? Women shouldn’t vote?” Mr Albanese said.

“I mean, these people have selected shockers.

Labor MP’s posts court controversy

Labor MP Ali France was exposed during the campaign for sharing doctored images of Peter Dutton wearing a fake Nazi uniform and previously backed calls to mark Anzac Day by reflecting on the plight of refugees in offshore detention.

Mr Dutton slammed Mr Albanese for refusing to condemn the historical social media post depicting him as a Nazi, warning the ALP was “trashing” its own brand.

“The Prime Minister, by digging deeper on this issue, is frankly trashing his own credibility, although he is preferencing in his own seat of Grayndler somebody who is anti-Semitic and opposed to the Jewish people,’’ he told The Briefing.

Peter Dutton was defeated by Ali France in Dickson.

“So I guess this is the standard that the Prime Minister is willing to accept and it says a lot about the Prime Minister.

“People can make mistakes, I don’t believe this is a one-off circumstance and follows a pattern of conduct for a long period of time.

“I think rapidly they’ll draw the conclusion that (reasonable people would) that the Labor candidate in Dickson is not fit to hold public office.”

Ms France went on to win the seat of Dickson, ending Mr Dutton’s political career.

Originally published as ‘Chill out’: Anthony Albanese on Aussie cancel culture