Senator Pauline Hanson has tried again to establish a parliamentary inquiry into transgender youth health, and once again she failed.
On Monday the senator moved a motion calling for a wide-ranging parliamentary inquiry into the treatment of young people who are transgender, calling for a process that gives a space to those who have undergone treatments including puberty blockers, cross sex hormones and surgery. The motion called for people who have detransitioned to be included in the process.
Senator Hanson called for an inquiry to consider a national ban on all medical treatment for transgender people who are under the age of eighteen, and also asked to investigate the alleged “suppression of dissenting medical and scientific voices who have raised concerns about the gender-affirming treatment
model.”
The One Nation leader also called for the parliament to look into “the influence of activist groups in shaping public policy, medical guidelines, and education regarding gender treatments.” as part of the proposed inquiry.
The motion was voted down with 36 to 21. Senator Hanson found support for her proposal from several members of the Coalition. Jonathan Duniam, Matt Canavan, Hollie Hughes, Alex Antic, Slade Brockman, Michaelia Cash, and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price gave their support.
Liberal members Andrew Bragg, Maria Kovacic and Richard Colbeck joined with the Greens, Labor and several independent members to defeat the motion.
While the motion was unsuccessful, just as it has been all the other times Senator Hanson has put similar proposals forward, it’s been claimed as a win of sorts given the growing number of Peter Dutton’s team voicing support.
The Liberal leader has been under growing pressure from conservative media organisations and members of his own party who believe that a focus on anti-transgender policies could be an election winner. The success of Donald Trump, who used advertisements targeting the Biden administrations support for the LGBTIQA+ communities in his election campaign, has regularly been cited as a strategy to mimic.
The Opposition leader however has been walking a fine line between endorsing such an approach and warning his team against engaging in culture wars.
In an interview that aired on Sky News last week Dutton said he believed transgender women completing in sport was “not in the spirit of sport.”
During the interview Dutton said people needed to have an “honest conversation” about the issue and he was also not in favour of discrimination.
“It’s not about discriminating against anyone, including young girls,” he said.
“I just don’t believe in discriminating against anyone, not on the basis of anything, and for young girls not to be able to achieve their Olympic dream, their pathway to a World Cup, or to be displaced from a team, because, you know, somebody has a physiological advantage over them. I just don’t think that that’s in the spirit of sport.”
