Senior government frontbencher Marise Payne has distanced herself from the controversial Liberal candidate for the Sydney seat of Warringah, saying it is a matter for the party organisation whether Katherine Deves is disendorsed.
The foreign minister was pointed in her remarks on the range of captain’s picks overseen by Scott Morrison in lieu of normal preselection processes in New South Wales, telling the ABC’s Insiders program: “Some of them are fabulous candidates.”
Morrison has faced a mutiny from Liberal moderates, with intensifying calls for Deves to be dumped in the race against independent MP Zali Steggall because of comments about transgender people.
A string of news stories over the past week have revealed inflammatory comments on various social media platforms including one where Deves equated anti-trans activism to standing up against the Holocaust during a YouTube panel.
Payne said she did not share Deves’ views, and she noted the candidate had “apologised” and “withdrawn those views”.
“As the prime minister said yesterday, in public life, we do have to be very careful about the way we express our opinions. Most importantly, we have to exercise sensitivity and respect,” Payne said.
“And in this case, in the case of the massively complex and extremely challenging issues that accompany any individual’s decisions about transition and transgender issues, overwhelmingly that has to be the approach that we take – one of sensitivity and one of respect. And that is my view.”
Payne stopped short of calling for Deves to be disendorsed, declining multiple opportunities to request that action, but said it was up to the party.
“It’s a matter for the organisation in NSW. I need to get on with my job. That’s what I’m doing. And I don’t agree with the remarks that she made. I’ve made that explicitly clear.”
Payne’s comments were notably less supportive of Deves than the minister for superannuation and financial services, Jane Hume, who said she “is going to be an excellent candidate for Warringah”.
Deves co-founded the Save Women’s Sport organisation, which campaigns to restrict trans women from playing in female sporting competitions.
Hume told Sky News on Sunday that Deves had “very strongly held opinions on an issue that’s important to lots of Australians and that’s fairness and equality in women’s sports” although “the language she used was inappropriate”.
“The comments that she made on social media have gone, they have been withdrawn, she agrees that they were wrong, but her commitment to the cause remains and I think that that is admirable,” Hume said.
However, Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act already says it is legal “to discriminate on the ground of sex, gender identity or intersex status by excluding persons from participation in any competitive sporting activity in which the strength, stamina or physique of competitors is relevant”.
The NSW treasurer, Matt Kean, has called for Deves to be disendorsed.
“This is not the 1950s. This is not an intolerant society. These kinds of horrendous views are not OK, and I’m sure the voters of Warringah agree,” Kean said on Saturday.
The issue risks alienating voters in socially progressive Liberal-held seats such as Wentworth, Mackellar and North Sydney, although some observers have said Deves’ nomination may be a political tactic to appeal to socially conservative voters in outer suburban seats.
Sophie Scamps, the independent candidate for Mackellar, said the incumbent Liberal MP Jason Falinski needed to clarify whether he agreed with Deves’ views, characterising it as a “huge test of integrity”.
Falinski tweeted two weeks ago: “Congratulations Katherine Deves. An excellent selection for Warringah.”
In an interview on Sunday, Scamps said Falinksi should follow the lead of Kean. She pointed to the existing exemptions in the Sex Discrimination Act.
“My view is that Katherine Deves – I think she’s scapegoating an already very vulnerable group of people for her own political ambitions. The reason I say that is that not one person in this electorate has ever raised it as an issue of concern for them to me or to anyone in my team,” Scamps said.
“He [Falinski] launched her campaign. He’s supporting her. Does he support her views?”
Comment was sought from Falinski.
Morrison defended Deves on Saturday, telling reporters: “I’m not joining that pile on.”
Morrison pointed to comments made by Tony Abbott, the former prime minister and member for Warringah, who praised Deves as “tough” and “brave” and said he “can’t understand the pile on from people who claim to be supporters of women’s rights”.
The ongoing saga overshadowed Morrison’s announcement on Sunday that the social services minister, Anne Ruston, would become health and aged care minister if the Coalition is re-elected on 21 May.
“Anne’s experience as a senior minister managing a complex portfolio touching millions of lives makes her the right pick to help guide Australia’s health system out of the pandemic,” Morrison said.
