Transcript

As a servant to the many different people who make up our one amazing Queensland community, I’m a representative for all Australians, including those with an XY chromosome and those with an XX chromosome—a servant of men and women and those adults who choose to live as something other than their chromosome provides.

Today, this Parliament House saw an exercise in democracy of which I’m very proud. The Let Women Speak rally on the lawn outside was conducted with a restraint that was sadly lacking in Belfield. I applaud the commitment to decent behaviour from those who attended to protest in favour of women’s rights and those who attended to redefine women’s rights, and I thank the AFP for their calm presence.

As senators, we have an obligation to pour oil on troubled waters, not pour kerosene on a fire. Yesterday, Senator McKim described our fellow Australians who choose to protest in favour of women’s rights as ‘trans-exclusionary, right-wing dropkicks—T-E-R-D-S’. It is not a defence for the senator that this actually spells t-e-r-w-d. Just because he can, that does not mean we should address constituents in such terms.

I remember the feminist protests of the seventies, when women marched behind banners that read, ‘If you see my gender, you do not see me.’ Gay rights campaigners, back when there was something to campaign for, marched behind banners that read, ‘If you see my sexuality, you don’t see me.’ In 2023, one group within our community has transformed that slogan to read, ‘You will see my gender, or else!’ This is not progress; this is division wrapped in a multicoloured bow.

In the years ahead, our society will be greeted with many challenges, social, economic and defence. We must face these challenges together, accepting our differences. The one thing that forces trying to reshape Australia fear the most is our unity: Australians facing our challenges united behind one flag, as one community and one nation.

Let women speak!