Greens candidate slammed for sexist rap lyrics, as video emerges of him discussing topless women
Greens leader Samantha Ratnam has doubled down in supporting a Greens candidate who rapped offensive lyrics, despite outrage from family violence advocates and gay rights groups.
Victoria State Election
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Greens leader Samantha Ratnam has doubled down in supporting a Greens candidate who rapped offensive lyrics as recently as this year.
Ms Ratnam said Angus McAlpine, the party’s Footscray candidate, was on a “process of change” and “it often doesn’t happen overnight”.
Ms Ratnam has continued to say the rapper’s lyrics were “reprehensible and uancceptable” and Mr McAlpine had attempted to remove some of his songs from the internet.
But she maintained her support for him, saying: “The Greens believe in the capacity for people to change.”
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It comes as family violence advocates and gay rights groups slammed Mr McAlpine over his “dangerous” lyrics about date rape and domestic violence.
Renowned Australian entertainer Rhonda Burchmore is referenced in the music and labelled Mr McAlpine’s lyrics “very offensive”.
The Greens candidate rapped in one track that “young girls dress like whores, their idols are idiots, I prefer Rhonda Burchmore”.
In others, Mr McAlpine regularly referenced homophobic language, violating women and date rape, saying “drugs in her drink, then have my way”.
Ms Burchmore said “you can’t wash away” those lyrics.
“As an older entertainer who has been around a long time, the most important thing about a song is the lyric,” she said.
“There’s no place ever for that kind of thing through song or anything.
“It is offensive and it’s not funny. I don’t know who finds that kind of language funny.”
The Greens have stood by Mr McAlpine, who performed under pseudonym FatGut with hip hop crew Broken Aesthetiks.
Mr McAlpine said he had distanced himself from the hip hop after moving overseas in 2012 to escape a “culture of toxic masculinity”.
But late on Tuesday a video surfaced of an interview last year in which Mr McAlpine said the trip was to “drink around Europe”.
I am truly sorry for the hurtful things I said in the past. There are no excuses – I have to own that behaviour. I am committed to changing the toxic masculinity that has pervaded our mainstream culture in Australia and part of this is owning up to past mistakes.
— Angus McAlpine (@Footscray_Angus) November 13, 2018
He also said it would be “dope” to be on a Polynesian island with “topless chicks giving me coconuts” and “really hot Polynesian women in grass skirts”.
The Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby branded Mr McAlpine’s lyrics “absolutely appalling”, while Domestic Violence Victoria boss Fiona McCormack said the “disrespectful language” must not be overlooked.
“We know how these messages contribute to the conditions that allow violence against women to flourish,” she said.
Centres Against Sexual Assault spokeswoman Carolyn Worth said the lyrics were offensive — both today and eight years ago when some of the songs were released.
“It is not an appropriate thing to expect from a Greens candidate,” she said.
“It (the lyrics) contributes to a climate where these sorts of things are not seen as abnormal or unacceptable.”
Collective Shout’s Melinda Tankard Reist said the lyrics set a “dangerous example” that could have a lasting influence on listeners.
She called for the Greens to take the incident seriously.
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“Is he only sorry now that he has been called out?” Ms Tankard Reist said.
“He needs to provide evidence that he has taken steps to have that music removed.”
Mr McAlpine said he had attempted to have the music wiped from the internet but admitted he had little power over online streaming sites.
He apologised to the women targeted in his music but said he would not resign as a Greens candidate ahead of the November 24 election.
“There’s not a day gone by where I haven’t regretted or been incredibly ashamed about that,” he said.
Ms Ratnam said her party would stand by Mr McAlpine because he had “owned up to this, fronted up to this and embarked on a big journey of change”.
“Those lyrics were reprehensible, unacceptable and have no place in our community,” she said.
“If we are going to change the culture of toxic masculinity we need more men to own up, take responsibility and commit to change.”
But Premier Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Jill Hennessy both said it revealed the Greens’ true character and could force voters to question the party’s commitment to gender equality.
“We’ve heard about fake news but I think we are seeing a lot about fake values when it comes to the Greens and their failure to stand up,” Ms Hennessy said.
Vic Greens leader @SamanthaRatnam faces questions on whether the party has a cultural problem and why they’re standing by a man who rapped about date raping and domestic violence when a female candidate was dumped for boasting about shoplifting #springst https://t.co/PVUxlqJQha pic.twitter.com/XAFhZUKNg7
— Monique Hore (@moniquehore) November 13, 2018
The scandal came as Victorians headed to early voting in record numbers with 75,456 ballots cast on Monday.
Greens volunteers were on Tuesday spotted handing out Labor how-to-vote cards in the safe Liberal seat of Kew.
Opposition scrutiny of government spokesman Tim Smith said it showed a Labor, Greens alliance was already in operation.
“A vote for the Greens is a vote for Labor and a vote for Labor is a vote for the Greens,” he said.
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