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| Q&A recap: Josh Frydenberg defends Coalition's changes to Safe Schools | Q&A recap: Josh Frydenberg defends Coalition's changes to Safe Schools |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Josh Frydenberg has defended the Turnbull government’s decision to alter the Safe Schools anti-bullying program, saying parents have a right to object to their children being taught concepts of gender fluidity and gender identity in the classroom. | Josh Frydenberg has defended the Turnbull government’s decision to alter the Safe Schools anti-bullying program, saying parents have a right to object to their children being taught concepts of gender fluidity and gender identity in the classroom. |
| Speaking on the ABC’s Q&A on Monday night, the resources and energy minister accused a fellow panelist, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, of being “completely outrageous” by criticising parents and politicians who don’t support the program, saying that criticism goes against the spirit of tolerance which the program is built on. | |
| Frydenberg’s comments on the panel show were in response to a question from Carter Smith, who identified himself as a queer student and implored Andrews to continue supporting the program, saying: “the notion that the Safe Schools program is radical gender theory is absolutely ridiculous.” | Frydenberg’s comments on the panel show were in response to a question from Carter Smith, who identified himself as a queer student and implored Andrews to continue supporting the program, saying: “the notion that the Safe Schools program is radical gender theory is absolutely ridiculous.” |
| Smith also objected to Frydenberg’s response, saying: “I think the problem is politicians are using young, innocent, in-pain children as political bullets, and that is unacceptable.” | Smith also objected to Frydenberg’s response, saying: “I think the problem is politicians are using young, innocent, in-pain children as political bullets, and that is unacceptable.” |
| Related: Coalition opposition to Safe Schools LGBTI program 'based in homophobia' | Related: Coalition opposition to Safe Schools LGBTI program 'based in homophobia' |
| The Victorian government has committed to funding the program in all state secondary schools, regardless of federal support. | The Victorian government has committed to funding the program in all state secondary schools, regardless of federal support. |
| Andrews said changes made to the program after a campaign by the conservative arm of the Liberal party, including the need for parental consent, were potentially damaging. | Andrews said changes made to the program after a campaign by the conservative arm of the Liberal party, including the need for parental consent, were potentially damaging. |
| “You’ve got to come out to your classmates with no support, you’ve got to come out to mum and dad with no backing … that doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “It works … why would you tamper with something that actually saving lives?” | “You’ve got to come out to your classmates with no support, you’ve got to come out to mum and dad with no backing … that doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “It works … why would you tamper with something that actually saving lives?” |
| Frydenberg said the anti-bullying message was necessary, but the material in the program itself overstepped those bounds. | Frydenberg said the anti-bullying message was necessary, but the material in the program itself overstepped those bounds. |
| “They give examples of kids in year 7 and 8 ask to pretend that they are aliens from another planet who come here and they are genderless and they are asked questions about what would they do with without any genitals ... I bet you all those parents that Daniel wants to subject to this program want to have a say as to whether it’s age-appropriate or indeed appropriate at all,” he said. | “They give examples of kids in year 7 and 8 ask to pretend that they are aliens from another planet who come here and they are genderless and they are asked questions about what would they do with without any genitals ... I bet you all those parents that Daniel wants to subject to this program want to have a say as to whether it’s age-appropriate or indeed appropriate at all,” he said. |
| The three other panelists – Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, writer and feminist Clementine Ford, and Bank of Melbourne chairperson Elizabeth Proust – said they supported the program in its previous form. | The three other panelists – Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, writer and feminist Clementine Ford, and Bank of Melbourne chairperson Elizabeth Proust – said they supported the program in its previous form. |
| Lambie also confirmed she would not support the Australian Building and Construction Commission Bill (ABCC), which will be brought before the Senate for the third time in a special sitting of parliament in April. | |
| The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said on Monday that he was prepared to trigger a double dissolution election if the Senate did not support the legislation, which would see Australia go to the polls on 2 July. | |
| Lambie has been a staunch critic of both the ABCC and the findings of the royal commission into trade union governance and corruption, saying the legislation “has more holes in it than the target at the shooting range”. | Lambie has been a staunch critic of both the ABCC and the findings of the royal commission into trade union governance and corruption, saying the legislation “has more holes in it than the target at the shooting range”. |
| Related: Malcolm Turnbull's push for double dissolution faces challenge in Senate and courts | Related: Malcolm Turnbull's push for double dissolution faces challenge in Senate and courts |
| “I will be voting no to the ABCC … I will not be blackmailed, I will not have a gun held to my head,” Lambie said. | “I will be voting no to the ABCC … I will not be blackmailed, I will not have a gun held to my head,” Lambie said. |
| Frydenberg said the Coalition would consider amendments to the legislation, which he said “goes right at the heart of the productivity of the Australian economy,” | Frydenberg said the Coalition would consider amendments to the legislation, which he said “goes right at the heart of the productivity of the Australian economy,” |
| Lambie told host Tony Jones she was not frightened of the prospect of a double dissolution election, despite it forcing her to return to the polls three years into a six-year term. | Lambie told host Tony Jones she was not frightened of the prospect of a double dissolution election, despite it forcing her to return to the polls three years into a six-year term. |
| “With the double D coming up, it will be like the Tattslotto draw on a Saturday night,” she said. “Looking forward to that.” | “With the double D coming up, it will be like the Tattslotto draw on a Saturday night,” she said. “Looking forward to that.” |
| The real risk, Lambie said, was the chance that the Coalition could control both houses of parliament. | The real risk, Lambie said, was the chance that the Coalition could control both houses of parliament. |
| “The Liberal party can go and do what it wants and if it has the majority in both houses I tell you what, Australia, you are in real trouble and anybody sitting on or below that poverty line, you’re finished,” she said. | |
| Proust said the ABCC was “somewhere down the list” of priorities for the business industry, and most everyone else who wasn’t a politician. Much higher on the list was youth unemployment, which she said should be “one of the main issues” in the upcoming election. | Proust said the ABCC was “somewhere down the list” of priorities for the business industry, and most everyone else who wasn’t a politician. Much higher on the list was youth unemployment, which she said should be “one of the main issues” in the upcoming election. |