NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has told the Prime Minister he fully supports segregated sports for biological women – but not “insensitively expressed views”.
“These issues have to be debated in a sensitive way at every step – an insensitively expressed view should never distract us from the merits of the substantive issue,” Mr Perrottet said.
- Ms Deves has compared transgender activists to Nazis. She has apologised.
- A conversation on gender rights is required – Perrottet.
- The issue needs to be handle with “compassion and common sense”.
As the Liberal Party’s election campaign becomes distracted by PM Scott Morrison’s controversial “captain’s pick” for Warringah, Mr Perrottet’s comments appear critical of the Prime Minister’s choice.
He said transgender issues needed to be handled with “compassion and common sense”.
HEADLINES
In a ruinous start to her federal election campaign, Katherine Deves – who in 2019 backed Zali Steggall’s campaign against former PM Tony Abbott – has made national headlines for a string of insensitive comments about the LGBTQ community.
Contesting an electorate that voted 70 per cent in favour of same-sex marriage, Ms Deves described transgender children as being “mutilated” and said she was “triggered” by the rainbow pride flag.
“Whenever I see it on social media I think ‘What now? What are they demanding now?’,” Ms Deves is alleged to have posted on social media.
She was later accused of allegedly comparing transgender activists to Nazis.
She has since apologised.
Mr Perrottet said, despite the Deves’ controversy, a national conversation on gender issues was required.
“I agree with most fair-minded Australians that girls and women should be free to play sport against girls and women, particularly where there might otherwise be an unfair advantage – it’s a matter of fairness and physiology,” Mr Perrottet said.
“The right thing to do is take the concerns of women and girls seriously, not shut them down, and if that means looking at appropriate protections for women-only sports, let’s have the conversation.
DISTRACT
“Clearly these issues have to be debated in a sensitive way at every step, but an insensitively expressed view should never distract us from the merits of the substantive issue,” he said.
“We need to handle these issues with compassion and commonsense.”
Ms Deves is digging in over calls to quit, warning she “will not stop fighting” and revealing she had received “threats” over her transgender views.
In a letter to supporters, Ms Deves said she was withstanding a savage backlash and had received “death threats”.
Senior Warringah Liberals, however, have demanded Ms Deves be disendorsed for fear her candidacy will derail the national campaign.
“The national focus ought to be on Mr Albanese’s disastrous week, not the PM’s ‘pick’ comparing trans activists to Nazis.” PC
Comments over Katherine Deves’ previous support for Steggall and various other “misdemeanours” I cannot dispute or accept, I have no proven knowledge.
But I observe:
Deves has admitted she originally supported some of Steggall’s agenda, but has since decided she does not agree with it. I submit she is entitled to change her mind, just like he rest of us.
She was quite prepared to fight for selection against two other candidates, that she automatically won is not her fault. And, with respect, given the immanency of the election the notion that she should have insisted on the public selection process going ahead is just not a valid idea. Also comment by state MP Felicity Wilson that we still had time to select another candidate instead of Deves is plain stupid.
Deves’ assertions of transgender children being mutilated and sterilized have credibility.
For some time now there has been considerable debate and controversy over gender clinics, in Australia and overseas (US, UK, Europe), who are legitimately accused of not considering all aspects of children’s growth patterns and age when allowing or advising gender change treatment. (In fact one case went to the UK High Court, with a ruling against trans’ interests).
Those people, often including highly experienced paediatric and medical specialists, who are strenuously objecting to the too often automatic treatment of children, and who are familiar with the techniques and methods used, might quite easily use Deves’ words “mutilated ” and “sterilzed”.
It is regrettable that so many people, who should know better, should be ignorant (or wilfully blind in the case of many in the trans lobby) of said debate and controversy. The latter has been well publicized from time to time, but obviously and erroneously not on the radar of many in politics and the media.
Summation, Deves actually did not have to apologize for said words. Just sections of the ignorant, biased, and truthphobic (there’s a new word for you !) media, politicians, and public bullied her to.
(Incidentally, what’s all the blah blah blah about bullying in our society ? Nicolle Flint, Claire Chandler, and Katherine Deves have all been bullied despicably, but apparently that’s ok).
And if people cannot accommodate someone (Deves) engaged in a serious medical battle against a proven ideological foe (sections of the trans lobby) over the health and well being of children, using comparison with the French Resistance in it’s desperation and heroics against Nazi ideology, their knowledge of very relevant sections of WWII history is zip.
Like many others I abhor the improper lack of due process in Deves’ selection, hopefully there will be some serious blood-letting after the election (where are you Alex Hawke ?) but keeping the Coalition in government is paramount, and it may come down to the winning of just one seat. Again like many I have met Deves, and considered her commitment, courage and intellect. She leaves the Independent Hypocrite for Warringah for dead, and I for one am prepared to back her and give her the opportunity.
Sky News
Businessman Simon Holmes a Court and his family could make a profit out of a potential boom in clean energy if Climate 200-backed independents are elected and successfully coerces the party in government to cut carbon emissions further and earlier than expected.
Liberal senator Claire Chandler said that only women should use women’s toilets, and she was ordered to appear in front of the Tasmanian human rights commission, and threatened with prosecution for criticising the authority.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnation%2Fpolitics%2Fsenator-supporters-face-extraordinary-threat-of-fines-for-insulting-antidiscrimination-commissioner%2Fnews-story%2Fc64fd64a123f58c9ecb9fb3aad5cbd1f&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=dynamic-warm-test-score&V21spcbehaviour=append
If a member of the government cannot say that only women should use women’s toilets without facing criminal prosecution by the state then basic human rights are in jeopardy. Remember this is a government senator, what hope does an ordinary person have? Political correctness has passed through several stages and it is now sinister. The comparison with Nazi Germany is perfectly justified, it is our best case study in how free societies are perverted. And it was step by step.
You people need to wake up to yourselves and campaign for Deves not against her. She is fighting in the main game. It is not about the immediate issue but the whole question of human freedom won over the past thousand years, at enormous cost and suffering.
Stand up to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission, it’s not a court of law and cannot enforce anything, they can only refer the matter to a court. Years ago the Beattie Queensland Government ignored them as did Qantas and those matters were dropped.
As a company MD I refused to attend and gave what I believed were very good reasons why the complainant had no reason to make her complaint according to company records and after a couple of months a letter arrived advising that the matter had been dropped.
Solicitors advised from the start to offer to pay a certain sum of money to get rid of the matter, that the Commission wants to score points and by cooperating offering a token compensation amount would probably work. I disagreed.
I agree with you that people need to wake up and campaign for Katherine Deves.
Surely no intelligent voter would argue against women sport being for women? To allow males would be like permitting performance enhancing drugs in sport.
Miss Deves, while being criticised on her stance with regard to the minority group of transgenders, has managed to overcome the woeful mismanagement of the federal candidate preselection and still make herself known to the electorate, most of whom would support her stance. NSW division would have to be among the most incompetent and sly divisions in the country.
Like Tony Abbott, I have Gay members in my family, but in community relations they still act like human beings and do the best to improve the lives of those around them, who are simply happy to be respected and accepted as part of the community with rights and tolerance that other members enjoy. How unlike them is the NSW Treasurer who so completely lives up to the translated German saying, ‘Give the person concerned a little finger and then they want the whole hand’, damaging our children and their minds. That ilk that is the subject of such a saying, causes suicides and undue stress in the community, and should be recognised as the criminal element they are and more damaging to their cause than anything else could be!! They are the ones who are insensitive, and whom I for one would never support and wonder at any govt that puts them up as one of its Members. A serious cause for worry!!
Must be putting these lefty Libs on notice when you see the number of our older icons & our new Olympians come out in favour of female sport for females only?
The LINO left are closest on the political spectrum to the Labor centre left, some maybe further left and in agreement with the far left Greens and Labor factions.
However, the Liberal Party described by John Howard is a “broad church” of factions, the ALP has many more factions and factional wars, but most often they are clever and keep their disagreements in house.
For goodness sake when will the idiocy end! It is patently obvious that all this “debate” is an absurdity of the highest order. Meanwhile the issues that are truly important to our nationally well being and security get sidelined.
“Poor fella my country”.
By backing Deves important initiative to protect women’s and girl’s sport, he is obviously supporting her.
Absolutely hillarious that the Liberal Left are seething with their parachuted left wing pick! A TERF that, although is poor on every other issue, is able to understand that irreversible transgender surgery on children is abhorrent and men shouldnt be able to compete with women in sport!
Green Kean has probably wet himself and scolded his dog Perrottet for somewhat agreeing with her.
You do know Ms Deves admits to campaigning with climate extremist Zali Steggall – and against Abbott – in 2019? You do know she only joined the Liberal Party weeks before the 2022 campaign on a factional promise from the Left to block Warringah’s only legitimate candidate? If centre-right conservatives continue to support left-backed candidates, they won’t have a party left to support. Deves is correct on one issue only, but a sandwich (as poorly made as it is) does not make a picnic.
This is the problem. Deves has been strong on one crucial aspect of the left’s March Through the Institutions and their destruction; and that is what Transwomen competing against natural females does: it undermines not just women’s sport but the role of women in society generally: breast feeders anyone? However in other aspects, particularly the major tool of the left in undermining Western society, anthropogenic global warming, AGW, Deves is a pure leftie, spouting the usual nonsense about AGW, which through renewables is destroying our economy. But she’s better then Zali; just.