book.sorell - Flipbook - Page 6
6 - MAY 2021
Freedom to be different
CLAIRE CHANDLER
Liberal Senator for
Tasmania
AUSTRALIANS have
always valued freedom of
speech. We’ve long understood that freedom to
discuss and debate even
the most complex and
contested topics in public, the media, in universities and in parliaments
adds to our collective
knowledge and produces
better policy outcomes.
Unfortunately, we are
increasingly seeing Australia importing a culture
from the US and UK in
which activists declare
any debate on certain topics completely off limits.
Sadly, media often
complies with these demands. This leads to a
one-sided view of certain issues being presented to the public – often
based on radical identity
politics which bears little resemblance to what
mainstream Australians
actually think.
One clear example of
this occurring in Australia is in relation to women’s sports.
Five years ago nobody
could have predicted that
if you publicly express a
view that only females
should be competing in
women’s sport, you risk
being labelled a bigot
or even to reported to
the Anti-Discrimination
Commissioner, as I was
last year.
Never mind the fact
that the vast majority of
Australians know and accept that women’s sports
are specifically designed
to separate females and
males on the sporting
field, due to the inherent physical differences
between the two sexes
in strength, stamina and
physique.
Since being elected to
the Senate in 2019 I’ve
advocated for women
to be able to continue to
have their own sporting
competitions. I’ve done
so because many athletes,
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Goal to succeed ... the
Australian women’s
soccer team, the
Matildas, fly the flag
for women in sport.
parents, women and men
have approached their
elected representatives,
rightly alarmed at the
prospect of women and
girls being forced to
compete against biological males on the sporting
field.
We all want sport to
be open to everyone.
This should mean that
codes ensure their men’s
and women’s competitions are welcoming and
accessible to everyone
wanting to compete with
their own sex, as well as
providing clearly designated mixed-sex social
competitions.
Simply allowing males
to compete in women’s
sport is neither fair nor
safe. Unfortunately, the
silencing of open debate and discussion on
this topic has enforced
a ‘solution’ that women must accommodate
males into their sports.
Ironically, at a time
when Australians are being encouraged to listen
to women, women from
the right, left and everywhere in between are being told to shut up if we
question the fashionable
narratives perpetuated
on Twitter and by certain lobby groups. As a
nation, we must place a
higher value on freedom
of speech for all.
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