Women Speak Tasmania (WST) is once again the target of biased coverage in The Advocate, this time in relation to our rescheduled forum at the Devonport RSL.
The April 11 article, titled “Controversial group sets sight on another venue in quest to hold forum,” repeats activist talking points, including comments from Rodney Croome who accused WST of having “only one issue, discriminating against transgender women.”
This framing is not only misleading — it erases the broad scope of issues we address, including:
- The impact of gender law reforms on fairness and safety in women’s sport, facilities, and opportunities;
- The implications of the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Act and Federal Sex Discrimination Act, and how these laws define women;
- The erosion of free speech rights under sex self-ID and anti-discrimination laws;
- The safeguarding risks to children under the affirmative care model.
These are legitimate public policy concerns — not “discrimination.”
Failure to Correct Past Errors
As our correspondence with journalist Sarah Fittock shows, WST has repeatedly asked The Advocate to publish corrections to their earlier misinformed article about our cancelled forums. Despite pointing out specific inaccuracies about the reasons given by Hive Ulverstone and the Devonport Library, no corrections have been printed. Instead, the same distorted framing continues.
In our response to Ms Fittock, we made it clear that unless these issues of bias and accuracy were addressed, we could not participate in what appears to be another attempt to discredit a women’s human rights organisation.
Why This Matters
Local media has a duty to report fairly, especially when covering issues of public policy and law reform. Instead, The Advocate has chosen to platform activist accusations while dismissing the evidence-based concerns of women, parents, and the wider community.
Women Speak Tasmania will continue to hold forums and publish evidence, regardless of activist pressure or biased media reporting. Tasmanians deserve open debate, not censorship disguised as journalism.