Bureaucrats in Canberra raced to remove toilet door signs that had a message of inclusion for transgender and gender diverse people after the Prime Minister shared his outrage that they’d been added.
The Sydney Morning Herald has obtained via a Freedom of Information request the exchanges of emails between senior staff in the Department of Premier and the Cabinet who worked late into the night to make removal of the signs their top priority.
Back in August, Prime Minister Scott Morrison publicly vowed to remove notices attached to bathroom doors with the Department of Premier and the Cabinet that give gender reassurance.
Speaking to Sydney radio station 2GB Morrison said the signs were not necessary and were sign of over the top political correctness.
The Prime Minister was asked about the signs after Nine political reporter Chris Uhlmann tweeted a photo of the women’s bathroom at the department’s office in the Canberra suburb of Barton.
Speaking to Ben Fordham the PM said suspected the the signs would be removed quickly, revealing that he’d already picked up the phone to speak to department officials.
Now it has been revealed how the PM’s staff moved like lightening to get the signs taken down. The heavily redacted emails which have now been made public show that at least six senior staff members were involved in a volley of emails that went back and forth over the issue.
Staff members commented that they’d be working late into the night, and would be clearing their schedules to focus on the removal of the offending signs.
OIP Staff, digitally manipulated image
