Andrew McLachlan (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I inform the Senate that the President has received the following letter, dated 20 March, from Senator Hanson:

Pursuant to standing order 75, I give notice that today I propose to move "That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

The need for an inquiry into the rising number of children suffering from gender dysphoria in Australia and the increasing number of children being treated for gender dysphoria at gender clinics, to examine the causes and possible remedies for this trend and to ensure that children and their families receive appropriate support and care."

Is the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

With the concurrence of the Senate, the clerks will set the clock in line with the informal arrangements made by the whips.

Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

The need for an inquiry into the rising number of children suffering from gender dysphoria in Australia and the increasing number of children being treated for gender dysphoria at gender clinics, to examine the causes and possible remedies for this trend and to ensure that children and their families receive appropriate support and care.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that a rapid tenfold increase in a condition that was causing Australian children to suffer would immediately lead to calls for urgent action and investigations into its causes and treatments, but this isn't the case with the condition known as gender dysphoria. It was revealed last year that more than 2,000 Australian children were enrolled in public adolescent gender clinics, almost 10 times the number in 2014. This figure did not capture the number of children being treated for gender dysphoria by GPs and private clinics, so it's likely the number is much higher. The number of children prescribed puberty-blocker treatments for gender dysphoria in 2021 was more than 600, up from only five in 2014, while there was also an eightfold increase in children receiving cross-sex hormone treatments over a similar period.

Why isn't this a matter of urgency? Why didn't the Senate support my notion last year to refer the alarming increase in Australian children suffering from this condition? Because the issue is completely wrapped up with the appalling politics of identity. This progressive form of politics holds that biological reality means absolutely nothing and that people can simply choose their gender at a whim, ever-changing the gender on their birth certificates. Rather than address the problem and debate the issue, the so-called progressives insist on deplatforming and silencing those who dare to go against the gender-affirmation narrative. This is because they realise there is no difference in encouraging teenagers with the same problems and confusion that teenagers have always had to deal with them by choosing a different gender.

It's this affirmation approach which was found to be the major problem in the wide-ranging Independent review into gender identity services for children and young people commissioned by the United Kingdom's National Health Service in 2020. The review found a significant and sharp rise in referrals of children with gender dysphoria, similar to what is understood to be happening in Australia. It also found a major change in the case mix of referrals, from predominantly birth-registered males to predominantly birth-registered females. Most importantly, it found scarce and inconclusive evidence to support clinical decision-making—specifically, the gender-affirmation approach, which immediately resorts to the use of puberty-blocker and cross-sex hormone treatments. These treatments have been conclusively shown to cause lifelong negative health impacts, and it's destroying lives and families.

The story of UK teenager Keira Bell has come to serve as an example of how these confused, suffering children can be led to a life of misery by the gender-affirmation approach. At the age of only 15, she was referred to the Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in London, where she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria. She was put on puberty blockers at age 16 and was getting testosterone shots at 17. At 20 she had a double mastectomy and had developed a more masculine build, a beard and a man's voice. However, by then, as an adult she realised her so-called gender dysphoria was only a symptom of her misery—not the cause, as she had been strongly encouraged to believe. But it's too late. The changes were irreversible. Keira joined a judicial review case against the clinic, which unanimously decided it had conducted what amounted to uncontrolled experiments on these poor confused kids who could not understand the implications of gender dysphoria treatments with life-altering consequences. The Tavistock clinic is now being closed, but what happened there is happening across the world and right here in Australia.

At the very least there must be an Australian inquiry into this issue to find the causes of this rapid increase in gender dysphoria and ensure the same kind of experimentation is not being practised on our children. Either you are genuinely concerned that our kids receive appropriate treatments and will support an inquiry into the issue, or you are more concerned about identity politics and will oppose it. I choose to stand up for our kids and I choose to stand up for the parents who actually came and walked the halls of this parliament to talk to each member here in this place, yet you did nothing to satisfy their needs and concerns to have a Senate inquiry into this to find out the real causes behind it, because you're too gutless to do it and stand up for these people, the poor children who are led down this path of destroying their lives. (Time expired)

Alex Antic (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For any freethinking Australian it can be a challenge to navigate through the left-leaning propaganda when Australia's censorship industrial complex is pushing indoctrination to promote their own ideological agenda. In the last decade there has been a significant increase, in English-speaking countries, of adolescents identifying as transgender and pursuing medical and surgical interventions to transition. Many medical professions and parents have raised concerns about misdiagnosis and the potential harm caused by experimental treatments being offered as the only solution to gender dysphoria.

Historically, gender dysphoria was a rare condition that primarily affected prepubescent boys and adult men. However, the current trend shows an inverse pattern, with teenage girls making up approximately 70 per cent of the referrals to these gender clinics. Concerned parents of trans-identifying teenage girls often cite various factors such as peer influence, online communities, body and mental health issues and isolation as contributing factors to their child's decision to identify as trans. Under the guise of gender-affirming health care, treatments such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and even surgery are being used to alter a child's body to match their mental image of themselves. These treatments are irreversible and experimental and have been shown to cause significant harms in the form of infertility, impaired development and decreased bone density.

We're now seeing heartbreaking detransitioning stories being told—the sorts of stories which really should make any reasonable person stop and reconsider what is happening. We're seeing the closure of clinics like the Tavistock clinic in the United Kingdom. Australia needs its media and its political class to wake up urgently. It needs an urgent inquiry, and that's why I support this initiative.

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Senate dealt with this matter of an inquiry on this topic back in November. We didn't support such an inquiry then, and it should not be supported now. The timing of this debate does not escape me. This motion has been moved in the context of rallies held over the weekend and the week before, regarding and often hosting a controversial UK anti-trans activist, and her speaking appearances in Australia. They are views which, as we saw on the weekend, are backed by far-right extremists, some of whom were seen using a Nazi salute outside the Victorian parliament. These are not the Australian values I grew up with, they're not views we should be amplifying in our parliament and they don't deserve treatment as a matter of urgency in this place.

The debate before us on this emergency motion is not about ensuring appropriate inquiry, support and care, as the motion might suggest. It is about giving a platform to people with views that would harm an incredibly vulnerable, patient group and their families and loved ones. You only really need to look at the way these matters were debated in the context of the marriage equality postal survey and see how the identities of trans people were targeted back then.

It is not in the interests and safety of children to be debated in this way. We should not amplify these issues under the guise of seeking to improve access for trans and gender-diverse people to care. We should be supporting better access to care and better health outcomes for all Australians, including children, young people and their families. It has got to be a key priority for our Australian government, as it is.

Only a few weeks ago I walked over the Sydney Harbour Bridge with some 50,000 proud, peaceful, kind families and individuals from all over the world. Community members and allies walked with the LGBTQI+ community over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. That was a far cry from the small gatherings of protest we've seen around Australia in the last week.

The community is overwhelmingly against such an inquiry, as are the medical experts in this field. I remind this place that in 2020 the Royal Australasian College of Physicians provided advice to the then Minister for Health on the treatment of gender dysphoria in Australia and that advice, supported by paediatricians, endocrinologists and groups with specialist research in bioethics, recommended against such an inquiry. They noted that it would not increase the scientific evidence available regarding gender dysphoria but would further harm vulnerable patients and their families by subjecting them to debate in this place. Every time these kinds of motions come up in this place you see responses from parents whose children notice such debates. They are alarmed at the impact that such debates have, as their very personal identity is debated in this way in this place.

We know of course that the clinical treatment of children and adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria is a complex and evolving area. We do need long-term evidence to inform treatment protocols. This is well understood by researchers and clinicians who are working to expand the evidence base based on best practice and care, an evidence base that will be supported by Labor's $26 million Medical Research Future Fund. (Time expired)

Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Usually when irrelevant right-wing senators use the Senate to put forward offensive ideas I don't engage. I don't like to give them the satisfaction of knowing how much they've provoked me or to risk giving more airtime to their bigoted views, but this weekend in Melbourne we saw what can happen when transphobia goes unchecked, so I'm calling this motion what it is. It's a dog whistle to the anti-trans demonstrators who organised the rally in Melbourne on Saturday and who use their platform to vilify trans people and incite hate; it's a dog whistle to the Neo-Nazis who supported the rally and who stood on the steps of the Victorian parliament giving Nazi salutes and it's a dog whistle to the police who used excessive force and assaulted peaceful trans people and allies, while allowing transphobic demonstrators and Neo-Nazis to organise.

What happened on Saturday shows the ideological similarities between anti-trans campaigners and the far right: both groups are targeting marginalised members of our community and stoking fear, hatred and violence towards them. It's clear that far right groups are using transphobic campaigns to recruit people to their own extremism. But we know that they are also racist and antisemitic. So I say to all trans and gender-diverse people, as well as Jewish people and people of colour who are still reeling from the weekend: I'm sorry. You don't deserve what happened then, and you don't deserve the ongoing attacks on your very identity that are being waged in this parliament. Gender diversity does not need to be 'remedied'. Trans and gender-diverse people need to be loved and celebrated.

So to all the trans kids and young people out there: I want you to know that I and the Greens have got your back and I will go into bat for you at any chance I get. You deserve to be celebrated. You deserve to be safe to be yourself. You deserve all the good things in the world because you are magnificent.

We must do more than call out transphobia. We need to work together to actively dismantle it, because trans rights are non-negotiable.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the next speaker, I'm just reminding senators in the chamber that it's disrespectful to interject. In a debate like this, we should show some restraint. With the interjections, I had some difficulty hearing Senator Rice's contribution. So I remind senators: if you're going to stay in the chamber, show some respect. Senator Walsh.

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, too, rise to speak on this motion moved by Senator Hanson today. We should all be clear on what this motion is and what it isn't. It's not about protecting children and families. It's not about protecting trans kids. It's not about protecting trans families. It's not about prioritising the lives of vulnerable young people. It's actually about throwing vulnerable children onto the national stage to be judged—to have their lives and identities picked over—for political gain. If we really want to protect our trans young people and trans families, then we really need to stand with them today—to stand with kids who just want to be loved and accepted for exactly who they are. I want to thank the trans activists who fought for so many years for respect and for a voice, who worked tirelessly, in the face of incredible opposition, to save lives and who are the real heroes protecting vulnerable young people.

My message to the trans community today is that we hear you in this place and we stand with you in this place, today and every day—and especially today, because, on Saturday, in Victoria, a group of anti-trans activists gathered to spread hate and, on the steps of Victoria's parliament, some of them performed a Nazi salute. It should not have to be said, but there is no place for this hateful and evil ideology in our country—not anywhere: not on the steps of the Victorian parliament and not in this parliament, either.

This is an opportunity for everyone in this place to stand together and condemn these views outright. This is an opportunity for the coalition to stand up against these views—views that deliberately target a vulnerable minority of people. This is an opportunity for the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Dutton, to call this behaviour out, loud and clear. Mr Dutton needs to call out the bigotry. He needs to call out the hate; he needs to call out the horrendous display in Melbourne on the weekend; he needs to call out anyone who holds and endorses these views, because we all have a responsibility to condemn this appalling behaviour and stand with the trans community today.

We are meant to be leaders in this place, and we know that extremists are emboldened by the words and by the views of politicians. And we all know how dangerous it is to not call out extremist views. We know how dangerous it is to not call out the hateful views that were on display in Victoria over the weekend. We know that almost half of transgender and gender-diverse young people have attempted suicide in their lifetime—almost half—because hate hurts and hate kills. We know that access to gender-affirming surgery, on the other hand, can be lifesaving. We know that love and support of trans young people is lifesaving. There is absolutely no excuse for spouting hate that puts young people's lives at risk. There is no excuse for endorsing or keeping silent when we see scenes like those on Saturday. Silence is just as bad. That is why it is so important today, and every day, that in this place we call out these views—this extremist hate. Every member of this parliament should be calling this out. Again, Mr Dutton needs to call it out. Most importantly, what Mr Dutton needs to do is stand publicly with the trans community, who are under attack right now.

Let me be clear on this. I stand with this trans community today. Trans rights are human rights. These rights should never be negotiable. I want to give particular acknowledgement today to members of the Victorian trans community, Austin, Sally, Tiff, Laura and Ricki, who I met with recently. You are actually the people who are doing the real work of protecting trans kids. You are the people providing an example to all of embracing who you are. You are the people who are providing the love, support and acceptance that our trans young people need. Thank you for everything you do to keep trans kids safe in our community.

Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support Senator Hanson's urgency motion calling for an inquiry into the rising number of children suffering from gender dysphoria in Australia and the increasing number of children being treated for gender dysphoria at clinics. We must examine the causes and the possible remedies for this trend to ensure that children and their families—and their families—receive appropriate support and care.

It is not an easy topic to discuss, not at all. In fact, it is difficult and it is uncomfortable. But that is the very reason why we here in this place must discuss it. Our job is to seek the truth and act for the greater good of all. When it comes to gender dysphoria, it is children who suffer most and there is just so much that we are yet to learn. In the last decade, nearly every single English-speaking country has seen a massive rise in adolescents believing that they are transgender and pursuing medical and surgical interventions to transition. Many doctors and parents have been expressing grave concerns about misdiagnosis and the harms of experimental treatments being offered as the only solutions to gender distress.

When you think about it, until very recently almost nobody was talking about things like gender dysphoria. Hardly a soul would even imagine that one's sex at birth was merely a social construct and something simply to be pushed away. We now have countless cases of not just adults but children at ever younger ages telling us they are the wrong sex and wanting to change that sex with puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone therapy and gender reassignment therapy. Studies do show that up to 90 per cent of children who are supported—but without medical intervention—will eventually go on to accept their native gender.

It is well documented that there are significant issues that arise from puberty blockers. These include but are not limited to: sterility, lack of sexual function and bone and brain development issues. Puberty blockers are being prescribed off-label. They were not designed for gender dysphoria, and children simply cannot consent to such radical and irreversible intervention.

It is now illegal in parts of Australia for parents, doctors or therapists to stop children from transitioning. State education departments in Australia are advising schools that they can transition your child without your knowledge and without your consent, if they suspect that you, as a parent, would be unsupportive.

An honourable senator: That is not true.

That is true. It is true in my home state of Victoria. There are already multiple cases in Australia where a parent has lost custody of their child for not affirming the child's wishes to medically transition, with judges tending to rule in favour of a supportive parent rather than a cautious parent.

In light of new and emerging evidence, many countries around the world are changing their tune on the gender-affirming treatment model. Sweden, Finland and France have banned the use of puberty blockers and hormones for minors, and rightly so. The UK's Cass review into London's Tavistock gender clinic led to a 2020 High Court decision stating that children under 16 were not capable of informed consent about the long-term impacts of puberty blockers and other treatments.

I urge the Senate to recognise what's happening to these vulnerable children—they're just children, after all, and need guidance from adults—to examine the causes of their gender dysphoria and to consider the most appropriate remedies to treat these children, and to ensure that they and their families receive appropriate support and care.

Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is not about supporting trans kids and their families. It's a dog whistle to the far right—those same people who stood on the steps of the Victorian parliament on Saturday. When we shadowbox the strawmen of the far right—for decades it has been about the Islamic and LGBTQIA communities, but today it's trans kids—we're not talking about an abstract, far-off concept; we're talking about real kids and real families in our community. In doing this we give air to a far-right movement that seeks to torment a marginalised community in Australia by turning their lives into political fodder.

We're talking about the vilification of trans kids and their families—

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sorry, Senator Allman-Payne. Senator Hanson, do you have a point of order?

Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have a point of order. Under section 193, section 3. I call on the fact of imputations being put upon me and my motives in moving this motion—saying that it's far right and that I want to destroy children's lives. That is not the case, so I'm asking the senator to withdraw her comments.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Hanson, it's not a debating point. That isn't a point of order. Please resume your seat. Senator Allman-Payne has the call.

Senator Hanson, you do not have the call! Please resume your seat! Or you can leave the chamber; it's your choice. Senator Allman-Payne, you have the call.

Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're talking about the vilification of trans kids and their families, who we push closer and closer to the risk of self-harm and suicide when we grandstand for anti-trans bigots and the neo-Nazis who support them. We must condemn in the strongest terms platforming what is, at its heart, a cynical and hateful exercise in far-right theatre.

As a teacher for 30 years, I have taught thousands of young people. And I've seen what hate and transphobia does to young people who are discovering their identity. I want those young people to know that we in the Greens have your back and that we will continue to stand up for you both inside and outside this place. We must continue to affirm and celebrate trans kids, ensuring that they feel loved, supported and safe in our schools, our workplaces and our community. We must let them know that this love is felt across Australia—that in the face of this hatred, trans campaigners and allies still outnumber the bigots. We should give real priority to getting gender-affirming health care into Medicare and to strengthening our antidiscrimination laws to better protect trans young people. Trans rights are human rights, and they are nonnegotiable.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I just remind senators that in debates like this it's important that we show respect. I draw attention to the fact that there are children upstairs and that we are leaders of the community. Senator Askew, you have the call.

Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise to support Senator Hanson's urgency motion. In the past, we have seen Labor and the Greens work together to shut down an inquiry into this complex and yet extremely important issue. I'm proud to be a member of a party which allows a conscience vote on issues such as this.

As you have heard in earlier contributions, it is widely known and accepted that subjecting children to puberty blockers and hormone treatments can have irreversible consequences to the long-term health and mental wellbeing of children. This, coupled with a drastic increase to the rates of diagnosis of gender dysphoria, is alarming and in itself should be reason enough for a Senate inquiry to investigate the issue.

Over recent times there has been a rise in some people in our community who seem to be obsessed with sexualising young children and encouraging gender dysphoria, all under the guise of some kind of inclusion. Does this not warrant an inquiry to protect our children? We have seen drag queens in our libraries and on our TVs encouraging preschool-age children to cross-dress and discussing some very complex adult themes and issues. Regardless of each of our individual positions on gender dysphoria, we should all agree that it is vital that our youth are protected and kept safe at all times.

I agree that a robust inquiry is needed to investigate this alarming rise in diagnosis and the treatment of gender dysphoria to allow our youth to access age-appropriate treatment and not be forced into making complex, adult, life-changing decisions without appropriate information and support.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion as moved by Senator Hanson be agreed to.