Aspiring politician Katherine Deves faced a grilling on Sky News on Monday night when she appeared on Sharri Markson’s program.

Deves, who failed as the Liberal candidate for Warringah at the 2022 federal election, has put herself forward to be the Liberal’s replacement for Senator Jim Molan. Senator Molan passed away earlier this year creating a vacancy that will be filled by the party’s nominee.

Markson asked Deves why she thought she would be a good candidate given her long history of offensive comments about transgender youth.

“Katherine, you have offended transgender children and their parents, you’ve had to apologise to the Jewish community, you’ve even had to visit the Sydney Holocaust Museum after making Nazi comparisons. What on earth makes you think you would be the best person to replace the highly respected and much loved Senator Jim Molan?” Markson asked.

Deves said she had great respect for Senator Molan and his long career in the military, sharing that she’d read a book he wrote about his experiences. She outlined that she believed she has similar conservative views to to the late senator.

“I do align myself with some of the values that Jim had, particularly around issues of defending our freedom of speech, defending our great nation, standing up for aspirational Australian families, and standing up for common sense.”

When it came to her visit to her apologetic visit to the Jewish Holocaust Museum Deves said it had been a great homour to be invited.

“I was incredibly honoured to be invited as a guest, and I saw that opportunity, it was an incredibly memorable and moving experience for me, and I’m very grateful to the Jewish community for giving me the opportunity.

Markson hit back highlighting that Deves was only being asked to visit the museum because she had made offensive comments.

“It only came up because you tweeted something so offensive that you had to delete it.” Markson said.

Prior to the federal election campaign Deves deleted all of her previous social media posts which later cause a series of ongoing news reports as they were slowly uncovered and highlighted. Among the deleted tweets were descriptions of young transgender people as being “mutilated”, and a panel discussion where comparison of her anti-transgender campaigning as being akin to the resistance fighting the Nazi regime was made.

Deves apologised for her previous comments, but later said her description of children being mutilated was technically correct from a legal perspective. After the election loss she withdrew her apology telling the Insight program SBS that she regretted making it.

Markson said there was difference between “being conservative and being so highly offensive that you have to go a visit the Jewish Holocaust Museum. It’s something Jim Molan would never have had to do. Yes, he believed in free speech, but he didn’t offend the community so deeply as you have done.”

Deves said she could defend her comments because she was discussing the rise of “fascist regimes”, and was trying to understand socialist movements that were infiltrating society. While she agreed that making comparisons to the Third Reich was wrong, she was now being supported by Jewish community groups.

“I understand it was the wrong thing to do, and I have apologised, and I won’t be invoking the Third Reich again. Now when I see other people in the public eye invoke that I feel offended on behalf of the Jewish community.”

Deves said the media had misrepresented recovered social media posts attributed to her during the election campaign where it appeared she had suggested that fifty percent of transgender women were sex offenders. Deves said she had only been referring to transgender women in Britain’s prison population.

“I don’t see what’s divisive about saying that men cannot be women, and that in certain situations biological sex matters.” Deves said claiming that her views had statewide, national and global support.

Watch the whole exchange. 

OIP Staff

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