NZ National Party embroiled in Transphobia scandal as Election Night looms
By Olivia Jones
The National Party has never been seen as one particularly strong on social justice. Marketing themselves in one form or another as a party of economic management, they're 'more concerned with the economy' than they are with taking direct action on the social inequalities in our society.
This is evident in their manifesto, which professes '500 policies' and comes in at a whopping 81 pages, and yet though it dedicates its pages to policies like 'gondolas on Mt Taranaki' and 'abolition of Local Government'; not even a syllable is dedicated to LGBTQIA+ people and the problems they face in Aotearoa. During a search through the document, our editors found that the keywords 'Lesbian', 'Gay', 'Bisexual', 'Transgender', and 'Rainbow' do not feature even once.
But despite the fact National is not known for social progressivism, a very large number of its MPs at the dissolution of the 11th Parliament were former Liberals, a party that did take a progressive stance on social justice. And their Deputy Leader is a former notable Liberal MP. The Independent approached him for comment on the lack of LGBTQIA+ representation in the latest manifesto, and he had this to say;
We have adopted the Liberal Party Manifesto "New Right, New Zealand" as forming a core basis behind much of what our Parliament caucus stands for. That has provisions specifically designed to protect LGBTQ+ New Zealanders and includes issues we have fought a long time over. Both Lady_Aya and SnecBoi, two distinguished MPs, have begun the groundwork for legislation designed to protect LGBTQ+ New Zealanders in housing provisions. Our plan furthermore actually does include measures to support LGBTQIA+ New Zealanders as well, so I don't think The Independent has done any research on this topic at all.
Gregor_The_Beggar, National Deputy Leader
We at the Independent went and had a look at the Liberal Party's New Right, New Zealand manifesto to look for this pro-LGBTQIA+ policy. We found two (and a bit) policies regarding LGBTQIA+ people under the section entitled Social Development and LGBTQ+ Affairs. They read as follow:
Cover Gender-Reassignment and Hormone Replacement
During this ongoing mental health crisis, there are concerns that the rights of Transgender New Zealanders are being ignored repeatedly and that there is a lack of recognition for them and their rights. A large portion of transgender individuals recognize that the immense costs and waiting times prevent them from transitioning and that is a field the Government can aid in. The Liberal Party therefore will seek to help cover gender-reassignment and hormone replacement and help our transgender New Zealanders feel empowered and more comfortable in their own bodies.
The sentiment, I'll admit, is there. It is a commitment to transgender healthcare, however the policy actually does nothing. Gender Reassignment Surgery and Hormone Replacement Therapy are already both provided by the Government under our universal healthcare system, the only types of trans-related surgery that are not are surgeries classified as 'cosmetic' by the healthcare system; such as Facial Feminisation/Masculinisation surgeries. This policy makes no mention of them, and makes no effort to expand the funding or training of surgeons who can perform GRS (in Aotearoa there is only one) so it ultimately does nothing for transgender people, despite being a lot of very nice words.
Combat LGBTQIA+ Housing Discrimination
In existing state housing regulation, there is an issue that there is major discrimination against LGBTQ+ New Zealanders especially those assigned to communal living. There are massive concerns and sources of complaint by LGBTQ+ New Zealanders where flatmates may not be accepting of them as well as flat out discrimination in the actual supply of housing to them. To that end, the Liberal Party will work to ensure that this practice ends and that LGBTQ+ New Zealanders who go into state housing feel secure and protected.
This is far more of a commitment and was welcomed at the time by LGBTQIA+ groups, however some complained the policy was not fleshed out enough. Ultimately though, it is more than the National Party's GE12 manifesto contained regarding LGBTQIA+ issues.
The only other policy that sort of addresses LGBTQIA+ issues in the manifesto is a policy that promises to 'maintain sex education'. It doesn't make commitment to expand it to include LGBTQIA+ people, though.
Despite this commitment to anti-bigotry policies from the Liberal Party, now the Liberal Caucus of the National Party, National finds itself embroiled in controversy. Over the last two days of the campaign, a scandal involving mainly the National candidate for Auckland Central, contesting SoSaturnistic of the Labour Party in a seat formerly belonging to the Green Party's Minister for Finance in the 11th Parliament, has been accused of transphobia comments.
In a number of campaign events, My13InchDuck of the National Party made the following comments:
I believe that we must be nationalistic if we wish to succeed. Our friends cannot say that. I believe that men are men and women are women! Our friends cannot say that.
How could you trust any one and any party who would tell you that the most basic things in life are false! They tell you that men who say they are women are just as much women as anyone else!
Who do you trust to lead us out of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic?
Victor Orban('s policies on family) been a remarkable success.
These comments sparked outrage from the public and media, as they mirror comments made by transphobic groups; particularly the Stand Up 4 Women lobby group. In particular they have been described as 'unacceptable' and have sparked calls for the National Party to expel the member at once. When approached about the scandal, National Party Deputy leader Gregor_The_Beggar had this to say;
The National Party completely disavows these individual policies and supports policies in line with our manifesto, the entire premise behind these statements is against that. Therefore, the Liberal Caucus within National especially will disavow these individuals and will trust our leader, Winston Wilhemus, to handle the situation.
And when asked whether he believed the member should be expelled;
Absolutely, I'm loud and proud about it. Don't think we're being weak on this issue, if anything we've shown strength behind handling this. We're supportive of our trans community.
When approached for comment on Duck's comments, the office of Green Party Co-Leader CheerfullyPutrid - a Prime Ministership hopeful - gave us the following statement;
The statements are appalling and CheerfullyPutrid has condemned them in Whanganui on the campaign trail. To quote her, "this National candidate- a serious shot in Auckland Central- is taking a veiled swipe at the rights of minorities in New Zealand. The Greens will stand behind our rainbow community in Aotearoa, and we'll say it with pride- trans lives matter. Can this candidate- and can National- say the same thing?" The Office of CheerfullyPutrid, Green Party Co-Leader
We also reached out to Youmaton, another prospective Prime Minister and Co-Leader of the Labour Party, and they had this to say of the comments;
The comments made by the National candidate are nothing short of disgusting, and it just shows what kind of party National is when they keep that candidate on the ballot. Trans rights are human rights, this is something Labour will never compromise on, and while National is attacking the right to a minority group's very right to existance and attempting to end local government Labour is focusing on creating a progressive and forward-thinking Aotearoa where everyone is welcome.
As of yet no formal statement or apology has been issues by National Leadership regarding the comments from the Auckland Central candidate, and many pundits have questioned how a party with people espousing such views can be trusted to run the country. If the MP is expelled it will demonstrate that the socially Liberal values within the party have not been lost in the merger, however LGBTQIA+ people in Aotearoa would be right to be skeptical of such moves as merely an effort to end the scandal quickly.
Either way, with National outnumbered by socially progressive parties in the House and in the polls, the 12th General Election can only have an interesting result. LGBTQIA+ people face a lot of hardships and opposition to the expansion of their rights and liberties in Aotearoa, and with a mainstream party at least platforming these views temporarily it may bode ill for Aotearoa's Rainbow community yet.
Olivia Jones is an Independent reporter based out of Birmingham, UK. She reports on British, Australian, and New Zealand politics in both her weekly installment for the UK A Week In Politics and her more investigative journalism.