Prime Minister Scott Morrison is under pressure to disendorse Katherine Deves, his handpicked candidate for the seat of Warringah.
On Thursday Deves issued a fresh set of apologies to cover a range of previous comments she’s made in the past including describing youth initiative Wear It Purple as “grooming”, and for comparing activism against transgender people to standing up to the Holocaust, and for a post which claimed 50% of transgender women were sex offenders.
“In my dedication to fighting for the rights of women and girls, my language has on occasion been unacceptable. It has hurt people and detracted from my arguments,” the statement said.
“I apologise for such language and the hurt that I have caused. I commit to continuing the fight for the safety of girls and women in a respectful way.” Deves said.
They followed an earlier apology for using inappropriate language to describe transgender people which was issued on Wednesday.
Deves was selected by the Prime Minister, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and former federal Liberal Party President Chris McDiven. The division of Warringah was previously held by Prime Minister Tony Abbott until he was unseated by Independent Zali Steggall at the 2019 election.
The Sydney mother of three, whose husband is a tradesman, made a career change in recent years from marketing to the law. She’s had a growing media profile as the founder of Save Women’s Sport Australasia and has spent the last several years campaigning against transgender women participating in sport, in addition to being an outspoken opponent of self-identification for transgender people.
Warringah is a seat the Liberal were hoping to reclaim at the election, and dumping the candidate would almost certainly guarantee a second term for the incumbent Steggall, and put at risk the Prime Minister’s goal of retaining government.
Whether the Prime Minister should dump Deves or back her has become one of the big political questions of the day. Writing at Crikey Bernard Keane described it as Scott Morrison’s “Pauline Hanson” moment, referencing John Howard’s decision in 1996 to disendorse Hanson from the Liberal party following comments she made about Indigenous Australians.
On Sky News however Peta Credlin said Morrison should put his support behind Deves, and legislation put forward by Tasmanian Senator Claire Chandler that would limit transgender women’s access to participation in single sex sports. Credlin said Australian electors had admired former Prime Minister’s Tony Abbott and John Howard for sticking to their beliefs.
With questionable comments from Deves past surfacing at a rapid rate political advisors are likely wondering if the the Liberal party should weather the storm, or if further revelations will continue to be a distraction to the campaign over the next five weeks.
As one Twitter user highlighted, “didn’t expect the Katherine Deves daily apology to be in the election advent calendar. Wonder what we’ll get tomorrow?”
A new day did bring a new revelation about Deves as News.com shared a clip of her brushing off concerns about the high rate of suicide among people who are transgender.
In the latest clip Deves is seen dismissing LGBTI advocates complaints saying “We hear from the other side the toll, all the harm, the devastation, we’re all going to commit suicide and blah blah blah.”
Deves said she had been defamed and bullied by transgender activists and it had left her in tears in front of her young daughters.
Whether the latest revelation will amount to Deves third apology in a campaign that is only 5 days old is yet to be seen.
Graeme Watson
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