Discussion to change the Sex Discrimination Act briefly returned to parliament this week, while a push to introduce similar bills did not progress.
The Liberal Party failed this week in attempts to introduce legislation to change the Sex Discrimination Act and remove protections relating to gender identity. An attempt by One Nation to revive a bill Pauline Hanson put forward in 2024 was also blocked.
Both attempts were prevented from being debated after Labor and the Greens opposed the motions.
On Monday, Senator Hanson called for parliament to return to her Sex Discrimination Amendment (Acknowledging Biological Reality) Bill 2024. The motion was blocked.
The push to revive the bills follows on from Senator Hanson’s recent speech at the National Press Club where she labled transgender ideology and “insurgency” that was “subverting society”.
The following day, Greens senator Nick McKim delivered a strong critique of One Nation’s motivations in pushing for the bill. Senator McKim said the party was putting forward a “transphobic, hateful piece of legislation in order to provide a platform with the protections of parliamentary privilege to allow a range of views to be expressed that could harm transgender people, particularly children”.
He questioned why the party was seeking to promote legislation he argued could negatively affect transgender Australians, stating that they should be able to live free from harm and discrimination.
“What has Pauline Hanson’s One Nation got against transgender people, and why do they want to provide a platform for trans folk in this country to be harmed, to be hurt? These are people who just want to get on with their lives and be who they are, people who want to live their day-to-day lives free of harm, free of discrimination, like we all do as we go about our day-to-day lives, people who simply want to embrace who they are as human beings.” Senator McKim said.
On Wednesday, Senator Michaelia Cash introduced a Liberal bill with similar aims, titled Restoring Common Sense and Recognising Biological Sex. This bill was also blocked by Labor and the Greens.
In a video posted to social media, Senator Cash said the issue would become a focus of the Liberal Party’s next election campaign and accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of “betraying Australian women and girls”.
“Girls are girls, boys are boys, women are women, men are men,” the Western Australian senator said.
She said the amendment would address protections in areas including change rooms, bathrooms and sporting facilities.
“I don’t think this is radical and its certainly not controversial.” Senator Cash said.
A third bill, previously introduced by Nationals member Alison Penfold, was briefly debated on Monday in the Legislative Assembly. The Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sex-based Rights) Bill received support from two colleagues.
Andrew Wilcox, a National Liberal Party member representing the Queensland seat of Dawson, supported the proposed changes. He said amendments made under the Gillard Labor government in 2013 had “replaced physical facts with subjective feelings”.
Wilcox said the bill was not an attack on the rights of transgender people.
“There are those who seek to deliberately misrepresent this legislation, so let me be crystal clear that this bill is not an attack on transgender Australians, does not reduce their safety and does not reduce or diminish their human dignity. Protecting biological women does not require the mistreatment or exclusion of anyone else. True fairness means recognising that different groups have different needs.” Wilcox said.
NSW Nationals MP Jamie Chaffey began his speech by reflecting on his own gender identity.
“I was born male, and therefore I can never live what it means to be female,” Chaffey said, adding that feedback from women he has encountered in his personal and professional life informed his views.
He said recent legal developments raised concerns about how gender is defined and perceived.
“Recent legal matters have established that a man wearing lipstick, a man in a dress, a man who simply says he’s a woman, is a woman. This is worrying. This is a frightening precedent, and it is a both hurtful and threatening statement to all women.” Chaffey said.
Chaffey said the legislation would define what it means to be a man or a woman and would provide protections for women-only spaces, services and activities.
