Tag: WST
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Formal complaint regarding ABC Hobart reporting and the continued characterisation of Women Speak Tasmania as “anti-trans” – Letter to the ABC Ombudsman
Letter to ABC Ombudsman Fiona Cameron on 10 September 2026 On 10 September 2026, Women Speak Tasmania wrote to ABC Ombudsman Fiona Cameron concerning ABC News Tasmania’s reporting of WST in the report “Tasmania’s Deputy Premier Guy Barnett potentially at odds with premier over conversion ban”, by state political reporter Josh Duggan, published online and…
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Detailed Response to the TLRI Report on Legal Recognition of Sex and Gender 2020
In June 2020 the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute released its Final Report No. 31 on Legal Recognition of Sex and Gender. The report reviewed the 2019 changes to birth certificate laws that introduced self-identification of gender and concluded that it could identify no significant negative impacts from those changes. Women Speak Tasmania did not agree.…
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What a Week! Reflections on Advocacy, Attacks, and Media Balance in Tasmania
Over the weekend, we at Women Speak Tasmania reflected on a very busy and, yes, quite exciting week. It started with a simple email to Tasmanian parliamentarians asking for “sex” to be properly restored and protected in the Anti-Discrimination Act. What followed was a pile-on of attacks on women advocating for sex-based rights. It began…
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Opinion: Women Are Not “Anti-Trans” for Defending Sex-Based Rights
This week Women Speak Tasmania found itself discussed in Tasmania Parliament and labelled in media coverage as part of an “anti-transgender” campaign. The reason? We sent an email to Tasmanian parliamentarians inviting them to support the Women’s Pledge Australia and consider reforms to strengthen women’s sex-based protections under Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act. Women Speak Tasmania is…
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Request for Right of Reply and Opinion Piece Submission – Email to Craig Herbert
Email sent to Craig Herbert, editor of The Hobart Mercury – 20 May 2026 Dear Craig, I am writing regarding The Mercury article published on May 20 written by David Killick concerning Women Speak Tasmania and our campaign relating to Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act. The article characterised Women Speak Tasmania as “anti-transgender activists” and described our…
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Parliamentary Privilege Used Against Tasmanian Women
Yesterday in the Tasmanian House of Assembly, two MPs used parliamentary privilege to directly attack Women Speak Tasmania by name. Kristie Johnston MP (Independent, Clark) Independent MP Kristie Johnston again labelled Women Speak Tasmania an “anti-trans group” that promotes “division and hate”. She claimed we encourage threats of violence, and suggested that no member of…
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Tasmania rejects push to change discrimination laws targeting transgender people
In an article titled “Tasmania rejects push to change discrimination laws targeting transgender people”, journalist David Killick reports on the Tasmanian Government’s response to advocacy calling for reforms to the state’s anti-discrimination laws. The article focuses on a campaign urging Members of Parliament to sign a pledge supporting changes that would allow the exclusion of…
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Women Speak Tasmania claims discrimination over canned library forum
A decision to cancel a Women Speak Tasmania event at the Burnie Library has escalated into a bitter clash involving claims of political discrimination and the role of public libraries in hosting controversial views. The group is known for its contentious views on sex and gender, and says it was last year effectively and “permanently…
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Quackery in a hurry
How ‘gender-affirming care’ got around the defences of commonsense and medical standards A scandal for the ages Ordinary people less alert to “quackery”; the effects of clever marketing and well-connected lobbying; and the failure of normal quality and safety checks—all these have combined to produce a “gender-affirming” medical scandal likely to be studied for decades…
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Protest Against Libraries Tasmania: Standing Up for Women’s Voices
On Sunday, 9 November, members of Women Speak Tasmania (WST) gathered outside the Hobart Library in Murray Street to protest Libraries Tasmania’s ongoing ban on hiring meeting rooms to our organisation. We organised the protest to coincide with the busy Farm Gate Market, ensuring our message would reach a wide cross-section of the community. This…