It’s one thing to be outraged by trolls on Facebook who make fun of our Prime Minister because her father has died. It’s another thing altogether to hear that 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones has said, at a Young Liberals meetings, that Gillard’s father ‘died of shame’.

This is a disgraceful state of affairs. Alan Jones is a ‘successful’ broadcaster, based on his audience share. 2GB earns revenue from Jones’s radio show. It’s a given that the likes of Jones will say nasty and horrible things whenever he has the opportunity, like any troll who gets kicks out of being cruel. But what has to stop is the sponsorship of such vileness from businesses like 2GB.

I recently wrote about Anne Summers’s assessment of the sexist and discriminatory treatment that Gillard is subjected to. At the end of Summers’s speech, she made the following appeal:

The persecution of our prime minister: it stops with me.

So next time you get one of those emails, don’t delete it – send it back to whoever sent it to you and tell them: It stops with me. When someone in your company refers to the prime minister disrespectfully, don’t ignore it – tell them off: it stops with me. And if you stumble across a website or a FaceBook page that contains offensive commentary or images, don’t avert your eyes – make a comment calmly saying how sad this makes you feel: it stops with me.

This is something that is beyond party, beyond political affiliation, beyond voting intention and beyond whether or not you like Julia Gillard. We should all be worried about this vilification of our first female prime minister. I think the same thing would happen if she were from the Liberal Party. Indeed Julie Bishop, the deputy leader of the Opposition has told me that she is constantly attacked for being childless.

So it does not matter whether you are Labor or Liberal, National Party or Green, whether you admired Julia Gillard or you despise her, whether you intend to vote for her or against her.

If enough of us push back, perhaps we can stop it. And if we can, perhaps that will help restore some dignity and respect to the holder of our highest office.

We would be a better place if we could.

So this is my appeal now too. It stops with me. I am making a stand against the likes of Alan Jones. I am making a stand against those who contribute to revolting, mysognist attacks against our PM.

Since 2GB obviously have no morals and don’t consider Jones to be, ethically, a stain on their reputation, it’s time for us to force this commercial entity to take notice. It’s time to boycott 2GB and, more importantly, their advertisers. Don’t just boycott these companies – let them know why they have lost your support. Write letters and emails. Make phone calls. Don’t just complain about Jones to your friends and family. Take action. And encourage others to do so. Together we can finally say enough is enough. Alan Jones should no longer be paid to spread his revolting filth on Australian airwaves.

Cheers
Victoria