Ex-PM Malcolm Turnbull says Katherine Deves should be disendorsed by Liberal Party

A former Prime Minister has called for Katherine Deves to be dumped from the party, accusing her of “whipping up animosity and hatred”.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged the Liberal Party to dump Katherine Deves over her transgender comments and sensationally refused to reveal whether he’s voting independent at the election.

Speaking from New York, Mr Turnbull said her comments appeared “designed to whip up animosity and hatred.”

“They are hateful comments that seem to be designed to whip up animosity and hatred against some of the most vulnerable people in our community,” he said.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Ms Deves’ comments have been “unacceptable”. Picture: ABC.

“I think they’re completely unacceptable, and I agree entirely with what Matt Kean has said about why she shouldn’t have been endorsed and she should be disendorsed.

“But she is Scott Morrison’s pick. And the members of the Liberal party in New South Wales don’t have any say in preselections, you may have noticed of late they’re all in the hands of Mr Morrison.”

”Well, I am staying out of the election contest. My only contribution to the election in Wentworth is to vote,’’ he said.

Mr Turnbull will be voting in the NSW seat of Wentworth which is being contested by sitting Liberal MP Dave Sharma and independent candidate Allegra Spender. Picture: Richard Dobson.

Asked who he will vote for in his old seat of Wentworth, where independent candidate Allegra Spender is challenging the Liberal Party, Mr Turnbull replied that it was a “a secret ballot”.

“They are both very good candidates. Dave Sharma is a very good guy. Allegra Spender is an outstanding candidate,’’ he said.

Speaking earlier on 2GB radio, host Ben Fordham accused the Liberal Party of silencing Ms Deves.

“You said this time last week, ‘I am not going to silence her’. Now, she has been wanting to talk to us on the radio for over a week now but Liberal HQ won’t let her on the air,’’ Fordham said.

“I am certainly not trying to do that. She was on SBS only the other night,’’ Mr Morrison said.

Deves gives ‘rogue’ interview

Liberal candidate and biological sex campaigner Katherine Deves went rogue and conducted an interview on SBS television without party strategists’ knowledge after calling in the police over death threats.

On Sunday, SBS World News’ Janice Petersen announced she had interviewed Ms Deves at a “secret location” and that her husband and children had fled Sydney.

But her surprise move left Liberal officials scrambling to find out what she had said and some were even told to “switch on SBS” to find out.

Ms Deves said she was not transphobic and that she was chastened by the public furore.

“As a mother and a woman, I recognise that the way I prosecuted those arguments was not conducive to proper, reasonable debate,’’ she said.

Katherine Deves gave SBS an exclusive interview after declining media requests for weeks. Picture: SBS News.

SBS also confirmed on Monday night that the interview was organised without the involvement of Liberal campaign HQ.

“Ms Deves agreed to do the interview. It was organised with her directly, not through Liberal Campaign HQ,” SBS said in an online article.

News.com.au understands that Ms Deves has at times been difficult to contact as she runs her campaign with the help of her friend and supporter barrister Bridie Nolan, who is married to her opponent independent Zali Steggall’s ex-husband.

Ms Deves had previously made headlines for suggesting trans teenagers are “surgically mutilated”, that surrogacy is “a vanity project” and “a human rights violation” and that trans activists are “the Rainbow Reich.”

While some outlets reported on Anzac Day that NSW police had no record of a formal complaint from Ms Deves, news.com.au understands that there is text message confirmation that she spoke to NSW police.

“I have received death threats. I have had to have the police and the AFP involved. My safety has been threatened. My family are away, out of Sydney because I don’t want them to witness what I’m going through nor do I want their safety put at risk,” Ms Deves told SBS.

Ms Deves said she was in a secret location because she felt unsafe. Picture: Jane Dempster/The Australian

The matter was immediately referred to the AFP, which has established a special unit to protect politicians and candidates during the election.

AFP does not declare active investigations as a matter of policy.

News.com.au has obtained the social media post that so alarmed Ms Deves that she went to the police fearing her life was being threatened.

The correspondence appears to be from Facebook, however the name of the poster and the date of the comment have been removed.

“You f***ing terf,’’ it begins.

The acronym TERF stands for trans exclusionary radical feminist.

“If you ever comment transphobic sh*t on my feed again I’ll burn you and stick my girl c**k down you neck.

“F***ing witch. Transphobic ass c***.”

Ms Deves arriving at a Politics in the Pub event that media were banned from. Picture: KHAPGG/Backgrid/news.com.au

The poster had a photo of a trans woman wearing a bikini top, wrapped in a pink flag and standing at a protest with an Anarchy symbol.

It’s not clear from the screenshot whether the comment is being made by someone in Australia or overseas, where “Terf Island” supporters have been urged to “mobilise” to support Ms Deves online.

Ms Deves also defended her decision to ban the media from a politics in the pub event on Friday night saying she felt unsafe to emerge in public or to front the media.

“There was a media firestorm. I went from having a small platform in a certain demographic to suddenly being the political candidate who was second only to the prime minister in terms of the press coverage,’’ she explained.

“We’ve wanted that to die down a little bit before I responded to the media inquiries.”

“I wanted to broaden my platform. I know SBS reaches many Australians, across many demographics, and many different ways of life.”

On February 14, 2022, Ms Deves gave an interview to The Sydney Morning Herald where she confirmed she was a supporter of Ms Steggall’s campaign in 2019, although not formally, because she believed she was the best candidate for the seat after more than two-decades with Tony Abbott as the MP.

“My loyalties have always been with the Liberals but I did take a great interest in her because I think you should support the candidate that will do the best for electorate,” Ms Deves said.

“But I can confirm I have been really disappointed in her since she was elected.”

In her official paperwork for nomination, Ms Deves rejects however that she was ever a volunteer.

“I do not recall signing up to that page,’’ she said.

“I have not been able to any emails or correspondence from this organisation. I wrote to them on 20 February 2022 and asked that they remove my name from the list.”

Originally published as Ex-PM Malcolm Turnbull says Katherine Deves should be disendorsed by Liberal Party