Scott Morrison says he would prefer for his two daughters to not compete with transgender athletes while engaging in sport, and opposition to the issue is a matter of ‘common sense.
The prime minister faced questioning over the highly-contentious debate currently raging in Australian politics as he fronted reporters in Brisbane on Thursday.
Asked whether he would feel comfortable with his children Abbey, 13, and Lily, 11, going up against transgender girls, the PM said he believes athletes should stick to their biological cohort.
‘Well, sports will make their decisions, but my preference is for girls to play girls, for women to play women, boys to play boys, and men to play men,’ he said.
‘I don’t think it is a terribly remarkable statement. I think it is common sense.’
However, the PM said he wants ‘those who are trans to participate in sport as well’.
Scott Morrison said barring transgender athletes from competing in women’s sport would be ‘common sense’
‘I want them to have opportunities for inclusion in sport,’ Mr Morrison explained. But we’ve also got to have some common sense here. It’s pretty straight forward.’
Mr Morrison, whose campaign trail has kicked into high gear ahead of the May 14 election, was in Queensland to announce a $22.8 million urban connectivity package to target poor mobile phone coverage in outer suburbs across Australia.
A debate over the issue has been sparked by statements from federal Liberal candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves who published, then deleted, tweets criticising the trans community.
She compared her organisation, designed to exclude trans people from sport, to the French resistance groups during the Nazi occupation.
Ms Deves has since issued public apologies over her choice of language but Mr Morrison is standing by the embattled candidate.
Doubling down on his stance on Thursday, Mr Morrison praised Ms Deves for ‘championing’ the movement to have transgender athletes removed from women’s competitions.
‘Katherine has been a champion of these issues – it’s a common sense position,’ he continued.
Last Thursday, NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said he believed Ms Deves should be disendorsed, saying there was no place in mainstream political parties for bigotry.

Mr Morrison said he would prefer for his daughters Abbey and Lily (pictured together) to compete against biological females
‘Political leaders should be condemning the persecution of people based on their gender, not participating in it,’ the treasurer said.
Mr Kean stood by his comments on Wednesday, telling News Corp the language she had used was inappropriate.
‘Invoking the Holocaust, one of the worst atrocities in human history, is offensive to those who lost loved ones.’
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has played down the disagreement with his Treasurer Matt Kean over the issue, saying he welcomed different views within his party.
‘Matt, like me, in the past, I have to be a bit careful now, likes having opinions,” the premier said on Wednesday.
‘You want colour and you want ideas in public life.’

The Prime Minister said Warringah candidate Katherine Deves (pictured with her family) would be a ‘great member of parliament’ and declared: ‘I’m not going to allow her to be silenced’

This is the tweet in which Ms Deves made her controversial comments about transgender teenagers. She shared a picture of a trans American teenager who had just had breasts removed and wrote: ‘This photo just hit my feed. It is beyond heartbreaking.’
The premier’s comments came after it was revealed he had texted Mr Morrison to reassure him of his backing over his approach to trans women in sport.
Mr Perrottet added his views on the issue were very clear.
‘I think girls should play sport against girls, and women should play sport against women,’ he said.
He added that politicians in public life have a responsibility to engage in public debate sensitively.
‘Particularly in areas that are incredibly delicate.’
On Tuesday, Labor leader Chris Minns was asked on 2GB if he believed transgender people, born male, might have an advantage during sporting competitions.
‘Look I think it’s a complicated issue, but the simple fact is … when young male adolescents go through puberty, they have a large amount of a natural chemical called testosterone,’ he said.
‘It’s a powerful, natural, anabolic steroid and there’s simply not enough preparation training, dieting or natural skill for female athletes to overcome that competitive advantage.
‘It’s no one’s fault, it’s just a problem of biology.’

The longstanding debate into transgender athletes competing in sport was reignited last month after US swimmer Lia Thomas (pictured) won a major women’s race
He said when sport bodies made decisions to ensure fairness, they should be supported.
A Labor spokesperson told AAP Mr Minns did not support the comments made by Ms Deves.
‘Comparing anything to the horrific crimes of the Nazis is of course highly inappropriate and awful,’ the spokesperson said.
The commentary has prompted Independent member for Sydney Alex Greenwich to criticise the premier and the opposition leader and to call for calm on the issue on Wednesday.
Mr Greenwich said all MPs and candidates running for election should stop weaponising the issue of transgender and gender diverse people.
‘Transgender people face significant stigma, discrimination and exclusion in the community which leads to poor mental health outcomes and high suicide rates,’ Mr Greenwich said.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean (pictured)has condemned Ms Deves language and called for her to be disendorsed
Listening to politicians claim they posed a threat to sport and should be excluded was incredibly damaging, he added.
Ms Deves’ remarks reheated the topic after it was thrusted into the headlines last month March after American swimmer, Lia Thomas, who was born a man, won a major women’s race.
The victory sparked anti-trans protests in the US with critics slamming Thomas’ admission as ‘unfair’, after the swimmer, who narrowly beat Olympic silver medalist Emma Weyant, ranked in the mid-500s while competing among men.
Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women’s championships on Thursday in Atlanta, Georgia, becoming the first transgender athlete to win the event.
Critics argue transgender athletes competing in women’s sports have a physiological advantage, while supporters say they should be able to swim freely as a woman.
After Thomas claimed gold after touching the wall at 4mins 33.24secs – more than a second-and-a-half before Weyant’s 4:34.99 – protesters stormed the stadium with signs reading ‘save women’s sport’.
Prominent athletes including tennis great Martina Navratilova and former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, who was born a man and competed among men, have also publicly spoken out in favour of barring transgender athletes from women’s sports.
Australian swimmers Emma McKeon and Emily Seebohm this week also spoke out calling for fairness in women’s sports, saying they would not want to compete against biological males.
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