Minister denies government is using transgender people as political footballs

A senior politician has denied the government is using transgender people as a political football as the Coalition doubles down on its defence of Katherine Deves.

A cabinet frontbencher has denied the government is using transgender people as political footballs to drum up votes.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been slammed by medical experts and trans advocates after he falsely claimed minors could undergo gender affirmation surgery in his defence of embattled candidate Katherine Deves.

Speaking with ABC’s RN, Stuart Robert doubled down on the Prime Minister’s comments and said the party would “stand by people who stand up for what they believe”.

“She's a strong person, a woman who’s got something to say,” he said.

Stuart Robert has denied the government is using transgender people as a political football. Picture: Glenn Hampson

“Now, I may disagree with some of the words and tones she uses. But she is trying to stand up for something she’s passionate about and have a conversation about.”

Asked what “conversation” the government was trying to have, Mr Robert insisted the concern was with “girls playing sport”.

“She’s made comments about mutilation, trans people being mutilated — that’s not about playing sport, minister,” host Patricia Karvelas hit back.

“Again, they're not words that we would use,” he responded.

“That’s the conversation she’s having … so let’s have a conversation, but we’d encourage everyone to do it gracefully.”

But the acting education minister rebuked accusations the government was using the issue as a political football, insisting it was journalists who had made it a conversation, not voters.

“My personal view is not but it seems to be a top order issue for many journalists,” Mr Robert continued.

Katherine Deves has come under fire for her comments. Picture: Jason Edwards

“There’s no blame but I’m happy to have a conversation as is anyone standing for office that the Australian people may raise.”

Ms Deves was hand-picked by the Prime Minister to run in the usually blue ribbon seat of Warringah, which the government lost to independent Zali Steggall in 2019.

She has come under fire due to her now-deleted social media posts in which she used the description of transgender children being “surgically mutilated and sterilised“.

Once the posts were unearthed, she apologised. But on Monday she walked back her apology, claiming the description was accurate.

Dr Fiona Bisshop, President of the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health, slammed the government for using trans people as a “deflection”.

Scott Morrison has been warned to be careful with his language by experts. Picture: Jason Edwards

“It seems that some politicians have found that trans people, especially trans youth, are an excellent deflection from other issues that are going on,” she told ABC’s RN.

“The public is interested and it makes a great headline to talk about these things and sensationalise them.

“The reality is that it’s having a very negative impact on young people.

“We’ve seen a huge upswing in the number of people seeking help for mental health issues, especially depression, anxiety, and worsening dysphoria and fear around increasing stigma and discrimination when they go out and about.”

She urged Mr Morrison to be “careful with the facts” especially when discussing gender affirmation surgery – which can only be performed on adults over the age of 18.

“Every trans child deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and politicians need to stop using them as political footballs.”