The deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, says the teals have not delivered on their vow to change politics in Canberra.
“These teal independents said they would change Canberra, but three years on it is clear Canberra has changed them, and Australians have seen that,” she says.
“They said they would hold the government accountable, instead they spend most of their time opposing the opposition.”
Translation: My party's parliamentarians are such ginormous fuckheads that even the advent of a net rise in the parliamentary collective IQ & decency, via the Teals arriving, has been insufficient to fix our blatant genetic shitfuckery.
Translation of the translation: We're arseholes, so that's their fault.
Inhaltswarnung: Transphobia | History is about to repeat and I fear some of our most vulnerable will be under attack By Rodney Croome
IMO Rodney is a champion, with far more courage & integrity than i've ever had, so it's nice to see him standing up now for trans safety & rights, akin to his own personal history of blazing successful trails for gay safety & rights.
I fear this coming election campaign might be as sordid & hateful for trans peeps as was the awful experience of the leadup to Marriage Equality. In the intervening years the RWNJ toxicity has only further escalated, & they will love this new culture war frontline.
I'm a transwoman, but will be personally untouched for most of the issues Rodney mentions in his article, given i'm not young, & not in need of transition support. However, i will very much be even more traumatised than i already am, simply from the escalated political rhetoric of hate & mockery of people like me, which is already bad but i think is going to get much worse.
Yay for the "gift" of having been born trans. Fsck it.
The 20th anniversary of John Howard's ban on marriage equality ahead of the 2004 Australian election is a reminder that another LGBTQIA+ culture war is likely to taint the 2025 election.
In 2004 John Howard amended the Marriage Act to make it clear marriage could only be between a man and a woman.
It was a move designed to wedge Labor and stir up homophobia for electoral gain.
It was a tactic adopted directly from the US where George W. Bush promised to ban same-sex marriages ahead of the 2004 presidential election.
A generation later the conditions are right for a similar election war over the rights of trans and gender-diverse people.
Attacks on trans rights figured prominently in the 2024 American election with conservative commentators convinced those attacks helped win Donald Trump a second term and deliver Republican control of Congress.
In Australia parties to the right of the Coalition will inevitably seek to replicate Trump's success by also attacking trans and gender-diverse people.
To diffuse this challenge to its voter base, the Coalition is likely to promise its own trans rights rollback.
The Coalition knows Labor is unlikely to push back because the ALP needs to win anti-LGBTQIA+ seats in western Sydney and regional Queensland - the seats that voted "no" to marriage equality in 2017 - to retain majority government.
I know some Labor figures would contest my prediction and declare the ALP is on the side of trans people, but let's be serious.
In 2004 Labor supported Howard's marriage equality ban to keep or win seats in Western Sydney.
Since winning government in 2022, Labor hasn't once publicly defended trans people from attack for the same reason.
That's very unlikely to change when an election is declared and the Coalition rolls out its anti-trans fear campaign.
I fervently hope I'm wrong. I hope the Coalition takes the high road, and Labor stands firm should it not.
But I was intimately involved in advocating for marriage equality in 2004 and I correctly predicted Howard's ban months before it was unveiled.
I feel it would be irresponsible not to point to the likelihood that history is about to repeat.
Should there be transgender election fear campaigns in 2025, what would they focus on?
A national review of healthcare for young transgender people is likely, as well as a ban on puberty blockers and hormones until the review is completed.
The likelihood of this has increased since the UK's Labour government put a permanent ban in place following a review commissioned by the previous Tory government.
Other possible election fear campaigns could focus on amending the Sex Discrimination Act to make it harder for trans women to play women's sport, and attempts to ban school courses, resources and groups that affirm young trans and gender-diverse people.
Such fear campaigns will be amplified by groups opposed to trans rights, including the so-called "GLB Alliance" and trans exclusionary feminists.
In the US, these relatively small groups have suddenly found themselves with far more resources in the lead up to elections where trans rights figured, and the same may happen in Australia.
Amplification is also likely from trans-sceptical media like Sky News and The Australian newspaper, as well as serial election meddler, Elon Musk.
If Labor is unlikely to contest fearmongering about these issues it will fall to the LGBTQIA+ community, non-government human rights groups and everyday Australians to stand up for trans and gender-diverse people.
Naturally, we should make the case that transgender Australians already experience high levels of discrimination, hate and suicide which fear campaigns make worse.
I believe another important argument, especially against a Liberal Party fear campaign, is personal freedom from government meddling.
Young trans people, together with their parents and doctors, should decide what treatment is best.
The government has no role dictating a one-size-fits-all response to the healthcare of young trans Australians.
The 2004 same-sex marriage ban eventually had the opposite effect to the one intended.
It led to a determined, persistent campaign for marriage equality that delivered a strong majority of Australians in support for reform in 2017.
I have no doubt trans fearmongering in the 2025 election would eventually have the same positive effect, fostering greater respect for the humanity of trans and gender-diverse people.
But before then, the nation faces a likely attack on some of our most vulnerable young people.
The more of us stand with these young people, the quicker Australia will evolve to embrace gender diversity.
Rodney Croome AM is a long-time LGBTQIA+ human rights advocate.
Support is available for those who may be distressed. PhoneLifeline 13 11 14
During the galling tenure of madmonk as Oppo leader, then the truly ghastly period of his PMship [& no, i still can't believe it either], some clever peep created a browser extension that replaced all website pictures of madmonk with a cat. It worked surprisingly well. I did not uninstall this extension til the bastard actually lost his seat.
As i am fed up with nowadays seeing pics of the poisonous potato everywhere, i just did a search to see if there might be a similar extension; alas no. This seems to be a clear market failure!
