On 16 June 2024, ABC Radio Hobart’s Breakfast with Ryk Goddard featured an interview with Equality Tasmania’s Rodney Croome about Launceston City Council’s decision to develop an LGBTQAI+ inclusion plan. The conversation quickly turned to a deeper and more troubling issue: whether women in Tasmania are being denied the right to speak publicly when their views do not align with prevailing political orthodoxies.
When host Ryk Goddard raised the controversy in Hobart City Council — where the council had been criticised for flying “inclusion” flags while refusing venue hire to women’s groups — Rodney Croome framed the women involved as:
“people who are advocating they say for women’s rights, but at the same time in a way that excludes trans women from women’s services and women’s spaces.”
This framing is significant. The women in question are not being denied access to public venues because they advocate violence, hate, or discrimination. They are being excluded because they hold the view — shared by the majority of Australians — that sex is real and that women’s services and spaces should remain single-sex for reasons of safety, privacy, and dignity.
One-sided coverage
In the ABC segment, no women from these groups were invited to speak for themselves. Instead, their position was summarised and critiqued by a male guest. The language used — particularly the repeated claim that these women seek to “exclude trans women” — positions them as aggressors rather than as women defending long-recognised sex-based rights.
Rodney Croome went on to state:
“I don’t understand why it has to be either/or. I think we can be inclusive, we can ensure women’s safety and also be inclusive of trans people.”
He further claimed that Tasmanian women’s services “have been inclusive of trans people for decades… without any problem at all.”
These statements were presented without challenge or counter-perspective from women who have raised concerns about safety, privacy, and the erosion of single-sex spaces.
A pattern of exclusion
This is not an isolated incident. Across Australia, and particularly in Tasmania, a pattern is emerging in which:
- Women’s groups are denied access to public venues.
- Their motives are publicly questioned.
- Their views are reinterpreted by others — often by people with opposing positions — without their own voices being heard.
A publicly funded broadcaster like the ABC has an obligation to ensure that both sides of a contested issue are fairly represented. When only one perspective is aired, the public is denied the opportunity to hear women articulate their own reasoning and concerns in their own words.
This issue goes beyond the immediate debate on gender identity and women’s spaces. It is about the fundamental principle that no group — least of all women — should be excluded from public discussion on matters that directly affect their rights and safety. “Inclusion” should never be used as a justification for silencing those whose views are politically inconvenient.
If we truly value diversity, equity, and inclusion, that must include diversity of opinion, equitable access to public platforms, and the inclusion of women’s voices — even when they challenge the prevailing narrative.
Source: ABC Hobart Breakfast with Ryk Goddard interview with Rodney Croome, 16 June 2024