16th Aug 2018, 12:37 PM – Senate Motions - Free Speech - Against gender neutral language

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Nationals Senator Barry O'Sullivan (Qld), which means it failed.

The Coalition was divided on this motion, with only a third of the Liberal Party showing up to the vote and those that did show up being split down the middle. Liberal Senator James McGrath (Qld) explained that:

While the government strongly supports freedom of speech, we note factual inaccuracies in the wording of this motion and cannot support it on that basis.

Motion text

That the Senate:

(a) notes:

(i) that the Australian Defence Force has recently drawn headlines following an indication it could end the use of gender-specific pronouns, and enforce a new language regime on our defence personnel,

(ii) that the Victorian public service, with support from the Victorian Government, has commenced a campaign to enforce the belief that masculine and feminine pronouns are somehow restricting,

(iii) that in 2016, the Queensland Government ended its inclusion of male or female in drivers' licence information, following complaints from the gender-diverse community,

(iv) the bully and intimidation from some within the gender-diverse community towards iconic Australian comedian Mr Barry Humphries – a man who has been a public trailblazer in challenging community expectations surrounding gender stereotypes – when he questioned the legitimacy of expanding bathrooms, and indoctrinating children in certain social outlooks relating to gender,

(v) that Qantas made international headlines earlier this year when it was revealed it would focus on directing staff language and behaviour, as part of a so-called 'Spirit of Inclusion' month that would "recognise reality" by forcing staff to follow a strict language regime by replacing language such as husband, wife, mum and dad to avoid any potential offence potentially felt by same-gender couples, and

(vi) that the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Mr Parkinson, has repeatedly stated his belief in the highly contentious concept of "unconscious bias", and has spent millions of taxpayer dollars attempting to find evidence to support his personal beliefs and alter the personal actions of staff under his control;

(b) reaffirms its support for free and fearless speech, and open and honest discourse as foundations of western civilisation;

(c) rejects any attempt to enforce an overhaul of longstanding language usage for innocuous and benevolent terms that are spoken with no intended malice; and

(d) condemns any form of crusading, bullying, intimidation and use of authority by government, activists and corporate leaders that attempts to stifle free speech by enforcing a specific world viewpoint on linguistics and social policy.