Trumpet of Patriots founder says his ads were meant to say sex rather than gender.
Billionaire Clive Palmer, the chairman of new political party Trumpet of Patriots, appeared at the National Press Club today where he was asked about his controversial advertisements that target the transgender community.
During his address the former MP who previously created the Palmer United Party, the United Australia Party, and most recently the Trumpet of Patriots, spruiked his party’s policies including a claim that they would only recognise two genders.
“If you go on the website for the World Health Organisation, you’ll find they recognise that,” Palmer claimed.
But when questioned about the policy Palmer admitted he’d gotten confused about sex and gender. The reporter highlighted that the World Health Organisation makes a clear distinction about sex and gender – and warns that rigid rules around gender identity can be harmful.
““That’s what I meant to say,” he said.
“There’s either a man or a woman, and that’s what I meant to say. In my all of my life, I’ve only ever experienced those two sexes.”
Palmer then went on to adopt the campaign slogan used by US President Donald Trump, ““While Labor and Liberals are for ‘they/them’, the Trumpet of Patriots are for you”.
Palmer said he would not repeat the line claiming there are only two genders in the future.
Anna Brown, CEO of Equality Australia, has highlighted that recent polling has shown that the vast majority of Australians did not want to see the lives of transgender people used as a political punching bag.
“Attacking the marginalised is not only morally wrong but politically foolish,” she told the Daily Telegraph.
“Most Australians are outraged to see a billionaire splash a truly obscene amount of money peddling hate and sowing division when they can’t afford to pay their bill or buy groceries.
“The fact he’s taking cheap shots at some of the most vulnerable people in our society makes it all the more disgraceful – these are real people and ads like this cause real harm.” Brown said.
One of the often-cited factors contributing to the Liberal loss in 2022 has been former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s decision to make gender issues an election focus when he selected Katherine Deves to be the candidate for the seat of Wentworth.
Not only did Deves fail to win the seat, a trove of comments she’d previously made about people who are transgender was blamed for Liberal losses in other nearby Sydney seats. Current Liberal leader Peter Dutton has also resisted calls for him to make transgender issues a central part of his campaign platform.
During his address Palmer also said Australian youth needed to be protected from making decisions about their sexuality until they were adults.
