A Labor senator has landed in hot water after posting an Anzac tribute overlaid with sexually explicit lyrics from a rap song on her official Instagram page.
Tasmanian Labor senator Helen Polley’s video included images and snippets from the Launceston cenotaph Anzac service, which Ms Polley attended on Saturday, overlaid with theatrical visual effects.
A mash-up of American rapper Chingy’s 2006 song A$$ n da Aurr and the Australian national anthem played in the background.
Chingy was connected to rap artists such as Nelly and Ludacris in the early 2000 and is best known for his 2003 hit song Right Thurr.
The song describes the rapper inviting women onto a nightclub dancefloor, with lines such as “we came to make you dance, baby”, “girl, I like your body; I’m trying to be with somebody” and “now put ya hands on the ground, put your a** in da aurr”.
The video remained up for at least a day before it was deleted on Monday.
Accompanying the video, Senator Polley wrote a caption giving thanks to those who attended the Anzac Day commemoration in Launceston.
“Launceston Cenotaph Service and both services had the biggest crowds ever,” she wrote on social media.
“Thank you to Launceston RSL & LCC.”
According to Pulse Tasmania, social media users were quick to respond to Ms Polley, calling the video “disrespectful” to Anzac veterans.
“Would you play this song at a funeral procession? This is the most disrespectful Anzac Day post I have seen in a while,” one commenter wrote.
“I don’t think you realise how disrespectful this music choice is. From a former serving member please stop this,” another said.
On another Anzac tribute video – a slide show of images accompanied by a rendition of the Last Post – posted to Ms Polley’s Instagram account on Saturday, a commenter voiced their upset.
“Did you delete the collage where you put A$$ in the air (sic) by Chingy as the song? Disrespectful filth?” it read.
NewsWire contacted Senator Polley’s office for comment on the video.
A spokesperson from her office told Pulse Tasmania she was a woman who had “spent her life giving thanks to those who have served our nation”.
“The senator has written and spoken at length about her father’s bravery and how it has inspired her and gave thanks again at Saturday’s service in Launceston to all of our service men and women,” the spokesperson told the publication.
It is understood the rap music may have been an honest mistake but it is not clear if the video was posted by Senator Polley herself, or a member of her team.
In a separate tribute on her Instagram, Senator Polley remembered her father, a war veteran, and his service on Anzac Day morning.
Ms Polley was elected to the Senate for Tasmania in 2004 and was re-elected in 2010, 2016 and 2022.
