‘Politics at the Pub’ event with Katherine Deves erupts in anger as media barred and member of the public asked to leave
Liberal candidate Katherine Deves - the woman the Prime Minister insists should not be silenced - has emerged at a fiery politics in the pub event.
Federal Election
Don't miss out on the headlines from Federal Election. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Liberal candidate Katherine Deves - the woman the Prime Minister insists should not be silenced - has emerged at a fiery politics in the pub event in Sydney where minders banned the media from attending.
Ms Deves — who has made headlines over the past few weeks due to her social media posts on trans people — was billed to speak at Forestville RSL in Northern Sydney alongside fellow Liberal Jason Falinski, the Member for Mackellar.
The event was billed as a “Politics at the Pub” event, but news.com.au was soon advised after arriving that it was a “no media event” and that it was in fact “invite only” — despite there being no mention of this on the event flyer.
A staffer at the RSL said they had been instructed by the Liberal party not to let media in.
“They are all for freedom of speech, just as long as it’s Liberal party speech,” he quipped.
The media were told by a Liberal staffer to wait outside, where Ms Deves would be making a statement on her way in.
Almost 30 minutes after the event was was scheduled to begin, Ms Deves’ white escort vehicle sped quickly towards the entrance of the building.
Stopping just short of the door, she walked quickly out and made the following statement.
“I have fought for women and children and now I’m fighting for Warringah. Thank you for coming along tonight. I’m looking forward to campaigning hard over the next four weeks and on the issues that affect the people in the room.”
She then brushed quickly past journalists and photographers without taking any questions.
Seconds later there was loud yelling and swearing on the staircase leading up to the event room where Ms Deves was heading.
News.com.au did not see what sparked the commotion, but an angry member of the public - Norris Smith - was yelling “this is a public event” and “I’m a member of the club” as a member of staff tried to calm him down and asked him to leave.
Mr Smith earlier told other people in the room that Ms Deves’ comments had seen a spike in the number of young people presenting at his family member’s psychology clinic.
The 66-year-old is a volunteer for the Independent Sophie Scamps, who is running in the seat of Mackellar against Jason Falinski.
Mr Smith said he had no interaction with Ms Deves but was angry about being barred from the event when he was a member of the RSL club.
“I’ve never done anything like that in my life,’’ he said.
“I am 66. It’s the first time I’ve actually been thrown out of any venue that serves alcohol in my life.
“My son works in mental health. He’s 29. He works with kids 12 to 25 and he said ‘this just caused a s***storm for us’.
“It’s upsetting everyone. And to compare them with the f**king Nazis for Christ’s sakes. She is a disgrace.”
The event comes after a significant backlash against Ms Deves — over comments she made on her social media accounts.
Ms Deves once declared that trans teenagers are “surgically mutilated” and that she’s “triggered” by the rainbow Pride flag.
And, this week it was revealed she believes there’s a link between cross-dressing men and trans women being “sexual predators, even serial killers”.
The candidate that Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists “should not be silenced” also believes that gay men who have surrogate babies are engaged in “human rights violations”.
In the latest unearthed tweets from her now deleted Twitter account, Ms Deves also suggests the “transabled” – people pretending to be disabled – “is a thing”.
“Didn’t (serial killer) Ted Bundy pretend to be injured to garner sympathy,’’ the Liberal hopeful wrote on September 4, 2021.
Just 24 hours after that post, she then suggested a link between cross-dressing and being a serial killer.
“Transvestism is very common among sexual predators, even serial killers,” she said.
“So how are we women supposed to tell the difference between the ones who are a threat and the ones who aren’t? Easier for women to exclude all males from spaces where we are vulnerable.”
Nominations close for political candidates on Thursday – the last date for the Liberal Party to remove her name from the ballot paper.
While transgender serial killers have been a popular trope in horror movies including Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill (1980), and Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs (1991), there is no known link with transvestism and being a murderer.
The mother of three also slammed surrogacy as a “human rights violation” in a social media post attacking the birth of twins to a gay politician in the United States.
Ms Deves, who has previously stated she has family members who are gay, described the prospect of two gay men having a baby as a “vanity project”.
“Surrogacy is a human rights violation,’’ she wrote.
“Women’s bodies are not vehicles for a vanity project.”
The men in the image that Ms Deves responded to were Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay presidential candidate in the history of the Democratic Party, and his partner.
The transport secretary is a member of Joe Biden’s cabinet and was recently ranked by The Washington Post as the second favourite to be the next democratic nominee for president at the 2024 election.
The tweet that she responded to was by Mr Buttigieg on September 5, 2021, announcing the happy news that he and his husband Chasten, 32, had welcomed twins Penelope Rose and Joseph August.
“It’s been wonderful. It’s everything people tell you to expect and more. I think the biggest thing that’s surprised me is just how much joy there is even sometimes in the hard parts,’’ he said.
“It’s just amazing.”
In another social media post she says that reports of trans women inducing lactation to simulate breastfeeding were sick.
“In any other context this would be child sexual abuse and exploitation,‘’ she wrote.
In another new reference to the Holocaust, Ms Deves suggested those that fail to fight the move towards gender fluidity are no different to those that watched the trains go past with Jews to concentration camps.
“I have no doubt these people would imagine themselves to be part of the French Resistance in WWII – but no, they are the villagers who watched the trains go by, ignored the clouds of soot and smoke and joined the Party to get good jobs. They are complicit,’’ she wrote.
Earlier, the Prime Minister declared Australians are “fed up of walking on eggshells” that they might offend someone on controversial debates including trans women and sport and that Australia should stop “cancelling people” for what they think.
“But what I won’t allow, what I won’t allow, is for those who are seeking to cancel Katherine simply because she has a different view to them on the issue of women and girls in sport,’’ he said.
“I think Australians are getting pretty fed-up with having to walk on egg shells everyday because they may or may not say something one day that’s going to upset someone.”
More Coverage
Originally published as ‘Politics at the Pub’ event with Katherine Deves erupts in anger as media barred and member of the public asked to leave
‘Bad tax’: Big call on stamp duty
The federal housing minister is signalling a major change that could affect millions of property owners.
Big business weighs in on housing crisis
A powerful business lobby is calling for major reforms to fix the country’s housing crisis.