Queensland Parliament

South Brisbane MP Jackie Trad’s attack on a bill designed to protect the use of traditional, gender-based language in Queensland is the mind-boggling epitome of extremist “woke” culture, Katter’s Australian Party Leader Robbie Katter has said.

Speaking on Mr Katter’s “He Said, She Said” bill last night, the former Deputy Premier and Treasurer described the KAP’s legislation as disrespectful, divisive, damaging, and akin to the “weaponization of language”.

Disgraced former Qld Deputy Premier Jackie Trad doesn’t know the difference between male and female. What is she? Not another Michelle Obama we hope!

Mr Katter said while he was not surprised by Labor’s attack on the traditional values held by the vast majority of Queenslanders, it was still confronting to hear that terms like “boy” and “girl” could be considered “weapons”.

The Anti-Discrimination (Right to use gender-specific language) Amendment Bill was first introduced in 2018 – at the time the KAP hoped it would mark a turning point in “the battle for common sense”.

The bill’s intent is two-fold: 1) “To protect an individual’s right to use traditional gender based language” and 2) “To protect businesses and other organisations from disadvantage in the provision of facilities and services that exclusively recognise gender as either male or female”.

The bill is not designed to legalise hate speech, as outlined in a clause in the amendment that disallows the use of gendered-language that is used with the intention of “offending, humiliating or intimidating another person”.

Mr Katter said the bill was about providing protection for people who use gender-specific terms such as ‘he’ or ‘she’ and face punishment from their workplace, school or university.

“This bill is not about allowing people to intentionally attack each other, it’s about protecting those of us – who I would suggest are in vast majority – from being set upon and socially ostracised for simply using the language conventions humans have used for thousands of years,” Mr Katter said.

“We exist in an increasingly intolerant and hostile social environment whereby mis-gendering an individual, or otherwise offending someone by the use of normal language, is enough to see an individual treated as a social outcast.

“I do not believe this is what the vast majority of Queenslanders agree with, and so we have spoken for them through this legislation.

“You cannot fight discrimination by discriminating in the reverse and we cannot sit by while radical ideologists suggest otherwise.”

The debate on the “He Said, She Said” bill is due to resume at the next Queensland Parliament sitting, before going to a vote.