THE PRESS CLUB HORROR

17 June 2026

It’s hard to believe that in 30 years of politics, Pauline Hansen had never made a presentation at the Canberra Press Club. I only wish that gap in her CV had been allowed to continue.

She’s a terrible presenter, stumbling over words and pronunciation at the same time that she’s demanding people have to learn English to be part of Australia’s “monoculture”. But you can see the occasional appeal. Using stories of homeless people to blame immigration for Australia’s lack of housing. Using stories of kids that don’t get three meals a day to blame renewable energy companies and the “global warming hoax”. But the horror of it all for me was when she described transgender people:

“…the transgender insurgency – the transgender ideology has penetrated almost all regulatory authorities….which seeks to redefine humanity….This transgender ideology is infecting all of society. It is explicitly subversive….This transgender movement is a militant force right throughout society and must be confronted….this movement, like militant islam, is everywhere and seeks to redefine humanity and biology and in this way to change the nation.”

Sadly for those who remember Germaine Greer for her pioneering feminist work in the 1960s and 70s, Hanson chose to quote an older Greer whose response to transgender women is abusive to justify her position.

Hanson says she is not opposed to transgender people but that a transgender woman shouldn’t be allowed into women’s sport or changerooms. “And likewise, a transgender man.”

Why is she so frightened of 1% of the Australian population who live precarious lives at the best of time, often facing abuse and violence? How dare she compare the unescapable biology of being transgender with the choice to follow Islam?

What a cruel woman.

PS If only I'd had the wonderful Bingo card created by the equally wonderful commentator Snarky Gherkin to hand as I watched the press club speech.

PPS One can take action to try and negate Hanson's transphobio. There's a group called Not in Our Name: Women in support of the Trans Community. In their words:

“We are women from every corner of society - mothers, daughters, friends, sisters, grandmothers, partners, colleagues, caregivers and leaders - united in rejecting the discrimination and exclusion of transgender people in our name.

Those who continue to target this minority group do not speak for us or represent our interests.

We call on politicians and the media to stop scapegoating trans+ people, who have long shared our spaces and been valued members of our community, and to urgently focus on the real issues of violence and inequalities affecting women and girls.”

There is a letter to sign: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/nionwomenaus and I encourage you to help created “a kinder, more inclusive Australia” by adding your name.