Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has weighed into the trans people in sport debate, declaring that it is “not in the spirit of sport” to allow people not assigned female at birth to play in women’s sport.
In an interview on Sky News, former Liberal Party chief of staff and current Sky News commentator Peta Credlin asked the Liberal Party leader if it was controversial to want to protect sport for women and girls, to which Dutton responded: “It’s not”.
“Young girls want to be able to compete on a fair basis and I think that is a perfectly reasonable position to hold,” he said.
Dutton said he doesn’t believe in discriminating against anyone on the basis of anything, and it was for this reason that transgender women shouldn’t be in women’s sport.
“For young girls not to be able to achieve their Olympic dream, their pathway to [a] World Cup, or [be] displaced from a team because somebody has a physiological advantage over them, it’s not in the spirit of sport,” he said.
The opposition leader’s view on the topic was at slight odds with Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, also appearing on Sky News, who agreed with Greens MP Sarah Hanson-Young’s view that the topic of trans people in sport was “not something that dominates the minds of everyday mums and dads and families”.
“Oh God, I hate to say this but I kind of agree a little bit with Sarah on this one,” Joyce said.
When he elaborated on his answer, Joyce said his party was focused on cost-of-living pressures and did not wade further into the debate.
There is no federal legislation in Australia guaranteeing or denying trans people the right to compete in sports. Instead, such decisions are left to peak sporting bodies.
Transgender women in sport was not the only topic up for discussion on Sky News. Gender-affirming treatments were also discussed.
Credlin posed to Dutton that there should be an inquiry into gender treatments, to get experts to weigh in for the consideration of government.
“There’s respect for parents in this, and if parents are being excluded from the discussion about the health needs of their child then something is seriously broken in the model,” Dutton said.
Dutton’s home state of Queensland recently halted hormone treatment for new trans patients under 18, with a review under way into the evidence for stage one and two hormone therapies.
Dutton said this may now happen in other jurisdictions and it ultimately came down to respect.
“We know that there are two sexes, and we know for many families, for different reasons, this is a confronting debate,” he said.
“As a Liberal I respect somebody’s privacy of their sexuality and situation and that’s paramount to me. But again we have to, as a society, … [be] respecting of parental rights and innocent children as well.”
The move by Queensland to block access to treatment has already been branded a fixation on “culture war crap” by Queensland Greens MP Michael Berkman.
“Hormone therapy and puberty blockers save lives,” he said. “Last year’s evaluation of the state’s [Queensland’s] gender services found that these services provide safe, evidence-based care.”
Eloise Brook, chief executive of the Australian Professional Association for TransHealth, which represents 600 healthcare professionals, said the treatments were essential and life-saving for many trans people.
“The Queensland government’s decision to stop any new public treatments will have a detrimental effect on trans children and the families that support them, and in particular, those families who might not be able to afford to pay for private treatment,” Brook told the ABC.
Gay Sydney News reporter