‘Not convinced’: Victorian MP Georgie Purcell reacts to Channel Nine’s apology for altered breast image

A female MP has reacted to an image used by Nine News report on Monday night, which had edited her dress and ‘enlarged’ her breasts.

A female MP at the centre of an altered photo storm says she is “not convinced” by media company Nine’s explanation about how the picture appeared in a story broadcast on its Melbourne news bulletin - but accepts it may have been an honest error.

Animal Justice Party cross bencher Georgie Purcell shared a Nine News graphic on X, formerly Twitter, showing how it was different to an original version of a photograph of her.

Nine released a statement saying the graphic was used on air on Monday, which turned Ms Purcell’s dress into a crop top, was generated through automation and did not meet its editorial standards.

Ms Purcell also claimed the doctored image had “enlarged” her breasts.

She told news.com.au she had been confronted when first seeing the image on last night’s news, recognising that a large tattoo was missing from what was purported to be her stomach.

I endured a lot yesterday.

But having my body and outfit photoshopped by a media outlet was not on my bingo card.

Note the enlarged boobs and outfit to be made more revealing.

Can’t imagine this happening to a male MP.

What gives? pic.twitter.com/NhnkDRMidc

— Georgie Purcell (@georgievpurcell) January 29, 2024

Ms Purcell was featured in a regarding the Victorian government’s controversial decision to allow duck hunting to continue in Victoria.

The Allan government announced yesterday it would not ban the sport, despite an inquiry previously recommending it be stopped on all public and private land.

In a statement, director of 9News Melbourne, Hugh Nailon said he would like to “sincerely apologise” to Ms Purcell for the “graphic error”.

“Our graphics department sourced an online image of Georgie to use in our story on duck hunting,” he said.

“As is common practice, the image was resized to fit our specs. During that process, the automation by Photoshop created an image that was not consistent with the original.

“This did not meet the high editorial standards we have and for that we apologise to Ms Purcell unreservedly.”

Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell has accused Nine Entertainment of photoshopping her image to enlarge her breasts and expose her stomach.

Ms Purcell said she was happy with how the media organisation had dealt with the issue but said it brought up questions about people consenting to having their appearance altered.

“I’m not convinced by their statement but I’m not an expert,” she said.

“I just hope it doesn’t happen again. There are other people who wouldn’t deal with this as well as I did.”

The 31-year-old was grateful for the support of public figures including the Premier Jacinta Allan, however, said she had experienced misogynistic comments from some quarters.

This morning Ms Purcell shared the mock up used in the broadcast, depicting her and Ms Allan, captioned “taking aim”, which was used to introduce the report on duck hunting.

“I endured a lot yesterday,” Ms Purcell wrote.

“But having my body and outfit photoshopped by a media outlet was not on my bingo card.

“Note the enlarged boobs and outfit to be made more revealing.”

She said female politicians had to deal with different treatment when compared to her male colleagues, saying she could not imagine the same happening to a male MP.

Georgie Purcell during Question time in the Legislative Council of the Victorian parliament Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Ms Purcell has been a member of the Victorian Legislative Council since the 2022 state election.

She was pleased with Nine’s quick investigation into how the image was created: “For now, at least I know what I’d look like with a boob job and chiselled abs.”

Duck hunting has been a controversial topic in Victoria for several years with animal rights activists arguing the birds should be protected.

After a marathon cabinet meeting on Monday, Victorian Outdoor Recreation Minister Steve Dimopoulos said the government accepted duck hunting was a “legitimate activity that many thousands of Victorians enjoy”.

He said the government would ensure the activity would be “safe” and “sustainable”.

“There are many things that I don’t enjoy personally – duck hunting is one of them. But I can’t sit here and tell Victorians how to live their lives.”