LNP backs ‘dog whistle’ motion on trans sport after silent party vote

Queensland’s LNP opposition leader David Crisafulli has backed an inflammatory motion stating anyone who supports transgender women playing in female sport is “complicit” in eroding its integrity and women’s rights.

His comments come after no LNP member in state parliament — all of whom voted with One Nation and the Katter’s Australian Party crossbenchers, who moved the motion — spoke during the half-hour Wednesday night debate, which heard from all other parties.

LNP Opposition leader David Crisafulli and frontbencher David Janetzki were among the 30 party MPs present in parliament who voted in favour of the KAP motion, but did initially speak to it.Credit: Matt Dennien

The move comes amid criticism of Scott Morrison’s captain’s pick in the NSW seat of Warringah, Katherine Deves, for her comments about the transgender community under the guise of “saving” women’s sport, and his pledge to push ahead with religious discrimination laws without protections for LGBTQ students.

The motion was voted down by the Labor majority government and the Greens. Neither Katter, fellow party member Nick Dametto nor One Nation MP Stephen Andrew pointed to a single example from constituents relating to the motion.

Asked why the state party backed the motion on at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Crisafulli said: “There was nothing in that motion that I think Queenslanders would be uncomfortable about”.

Crisafulli said no member of his party spoke on the motion because it did not fit within the three things he nominated as his focus on rising to the leadership after the 2020 state election: the economy, service delivery and transparency.

He said he believed transgender women should be banned from competing in female sport because “that’s the firm view of the majority of Queenslanders, and indeed, people in sport”.

“I don’t believe it’s a fair contest,” he said.

During debate on Wednesday night, Sports Minister Stirling Hinchliffe outlined the Labor government’s opposition to the “blatant dog whistle” and expressed surprise KAP leader Robbie Katter did not use the relatively rare private members’ motion time to raise “something more relevant to regional Queenslanders”.

“This is not a debate about sport or women’s rights,” he said. “It is an attempt to cause fear and division and is unnecessarily dragging an extreme right-wing trope into this parliament.

“It is not the role of the state to determine who can and cannot participate in sport based on any factor, and gender identity is one of those,” Hinchliffe said, pointing to comments from Olympic and Paralympic figures that individual sports are best placed to make such calls and there should be no presumption of advantage based on sex or gender.

The KAP has previously proposed a bill to protect people against discrimination for the use of gendered pronouns, and had floated laws — unlikely to pass state parliament — to ban trans women from female sport if not “outlawed” by the next federal parliament.

Crisafulli would not be drawn on whether he would support such a bill, saying “any bill the gets presented to the parliament will always be treated with respect and decency”.

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