Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of referring the Childhood Gender Transition Prohibition Bill 2023 for inquiry by a committee. We have an age of consent in this country for drinking, smoking, driving and voting, because we acknowledge that children are too young to make decisions. The impacts of gender-changing surgery for a child can last a lifetime. I think it's incredibly hypocritical that we have rules for our children to protect them yet we don't have rules and regulations on this and we do not want to scrutinise why we allow these changes to occur on a permanent basis.

The other reason why I think it's very important to look at this is the right of parents and how much say they have in regard to decisions that their children make. I've been contacted myself, as I know fellow senators have been contacted, by many parents who are distraught about the changes that have been inflicted upon their children, some of whom later decide that they made the wrong decision. I think we need to give them a voice as well.