Katherine Deves: Under siege Liberal Warringah candidate emerges from hiding but bans media from public Q&A
Katherine Deves, the embattled Liberal candidate for Warringah, attacked over her comments on transgender issues, has emerged from hiding, but bans media from community Q&A.
Manly
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The embattled Liberal federal election candidate for Warringah has emerged from hiding and vowed to battle on and continue campaigning in the high profile Sydney seat despite the “pile on” over her controversial comments on transgender issues.
But Katherine Deves, who had been keeping a low profile, was back in the spotlight on Friday night when the media was banned from a “politics in the pub” public question and answer session.
The forum at Forestville RSL also attended by Liberal MP for Mackellar Jason Falinski, was open to the public, but reporters were not allowed inside.
Mr Falinksi told Sky News on Saturday that the event was open to the public.
Earlier in the day Ms Deves attended the official draw from positions on the ballot paper.
This confirmed the Liberal Party’s willingness for her to take on sitting independent MP Zali Steggall at the May 21 poll.
At both events Ms Deves, shadowed by a media minder from Liberal Party HQ, refused to aswer any questions.
After the ballot draw at Australian Electoral Commission offices at Frenchs Forest, Ms Deves, accompanied by two Liberal Party officials, would not answer questions about her controversial comments and views on transgender issues.
She gave the Manly Daily a prepared verbal statement about “looking forward to campaigning hard over the next four weeks on issues that matter to the people of Warringah” before being ushered away to a waiting car.
At Foestville RSl, she made a similar statement to waiitng media as she was ushered inside.
Her campaign Facebook page suggested that she has been on the hustings this week.
A senior local Liberal Party figure told the Manly Daily on Friday that “Canberra has taken full control of her campaign”.
Photographs of her speaking with voters in the electorate were posted to her Facebook campaign page on Wednesday and Thursday.
But the senior local Liberal figure said it was understandable that Ms Deves had been laying relatively low after being “stalked and harassed.”
“She’s had to change her phone number,” the source said.
“She’s made the right decision to go to ground for a while given the pile-on. She had no alternative.
“They’ve thrown everything at her, but she’s getting ready for a very strong campaign.”
Ms Deves has said she has “been bullied in the most vile way and received death threats. She pulled out of a Manly Community Forum meeting with Warringah candidates on Tuesday.
Nominations closed for political candidates on Thursday — the Liberal Party cannot put forward another candidate if Ms Deves were to step aside.
But the a senior Liberal party figure, who has spoken with Ms Deves this week, said she was determined to keep campaigning to defeat Ms Steggall, despite the “ferocity of the attacks” from sections of the community and from within the Liberal Party.
There has been pressure on the Liberals to disendorse her after deleted social media comments on transgender issues resurfaced.
In deleted tweets and posts, Ms Deves, who is a co-founder of a group opposed to transgender athlete, who were formerly male, competing against women in sport, said she was ”triggered” by the LGBT rainbow flag.
In another about a transgender teenager who had undergone surgery, she commented: “They will not stand for seeing vulnerable children surgically mutilated and sterilised”.
This week a comment by Ms Deves emerged suggesting a link between cross-dressing men and trans women being “sexual predators, even serial killers”.
Ms Deves has since deleted her some social media accounts and apologised for the language she used in describing transgender children.
She was a so-called “captain’s pick”, by a Liberal party committee, which included Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, to take on Ms Steggall.
Since her social media comments emerged, she has faced an intense backlash.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean called for her to be dropped.
On Friday Ms Steggall repeated her calls for the prime minister to remove Ms Deves from the contest for her “toxic, ill-informed and offensive” views and “homophobic” social media comments.
“I think it’s an indictment on Scott Morrison’s character and values that he is digging in behind her and it’s causing huge controversy within his own party. These are not the values and sentiments of a lot of his membership and supporters.”
Ms Steggall said Ms Deves had yet to present any detailed policy information to voters.
The senior Liberal said that the local party was increasingly rallying behind Ms Deves.
Warringah: Order of candidates on ballot paper:
1. Steven Tripp (One Nation)
2. Zali Steggall (independent)
3. Andrew Robertson (United Australia Party)
4. Kristyn Glanville (Greens)
5. Katherine Deves (Liberal)
6. David Mickleburgh (Labor)
7. Kate Paterson (Animal Justice Party)
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