In a wide-ranging and long-form interview with Sky News host Peta Credlin, Peter Dutton has begun walking back comments that he would not change Coalition policy on gender.
He now says there are only two sexes, that girls’ and women’s sports should be protected and that the child gender clinics should be investigated.
While Dutton made no commitments, he sent signals that he might act if he becomes Prime Minister.
Family First, along with mainstream Australians everywhere, was disappointed when Dutton was asked in the wake of Donald Trump’s pledge to recognise two genders and protect women’s sports that he responded:
"We don't have any plans to change our position in relation to that issue.”
Scott Morrison took a position to the last election that the Coalition had no plans to save girls’ and women’s sports from the encroachment of biological males.
Morrison’s position and Dutton’s reaffirmation of it two weeks ago were big missteps that made no sense.
Dutton’s weak response was compounded by his senior frontbencher Senator Dave Sharma who in that same week told Sky news the Coalition would not change the Sex Discrimination Act to restore the definition of woman, despite repeated questioning by hosts James Macpherson and Danica De Giorgio.
But fast-forward two weeks, here’s how Dutton handled the question when Credlin asked him.
CREDLIN: “Surely it's not controversial to want to protect sport for women and girls?”
DUTTON: “No, it's not. And again, I think it's one of those debates that we have to be honest in. It’s not about discriminating against anyone, including young girls. Young girls want to be able to compete on a fair basis and I think that is a perfectly reasonable position to hold.”
Demonstrating he that he either doesn’t fully understand what’s at stake or simply doesn’t want to provoke a fight with angry and intolerant LGBTIQA+ political activists, Dutton went on to say: “I just don't believe in discriminating against anyone.”
That’s fine but at some stage a biological male who thinks he is female is going to have to be told he can’t play with the girls, as Trump decreed today.
Credlin then asked Dutton about the gender treatment of children which has been banned in the UK and has damaged the lives of countless Australian kids, leading to a review being announced in Queensland and federally.
CREDLIN: “We know there's real concerns out of Queensland in recent days, particularly that mums and dads were completely kept in the dark involving treatments and young people. Again, what’s there to be scared of?
DUTTON: “Well, again, I think there's respect for parents in this and if parents are being excluded from a discussion about the health needs of their child, something is seriously broken in the model. I think as you've seen in Queensland there's the ability to, to respond and that might happen now in other jurisdictions as well. But I think the individual needs to be treated with respect. I think the parents need to be treated with respect. We know that there are two sexes and we know that for many families for different reasons this is a very confronting debate and we should as a Liberal, I mean, I respect somebody's privacy - their privacy of their sexuality of their situation and that's paramount to me. But again, we have to have a society which is respecting of parental rights and the rights of innocent children as well.”
He is right to respect the privacy of adults but he has clearly indicated he’s in favour of light be shone on the activities of the child gender clinics, and that is a welcome development.
Family First welcomes this but of course he and the Liberals have allowed the LGBTIQA+ political agenda to carry its ideology into schools and universities and have yet to act decisively to protect children from it.
Dutton is moving the Liberal party at glacial pace towards Family First’s position.
This underscores the need for Family First’s Senate team to be elected to keep the pressure on within the Parliament for action to protect children, women and girls.