Latest news with #ClaireChandler
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Revealed: How Donald Trump spurred stunning call for trans athletes to be BANNED from representing Australia at the Olympics
Senator Claire Chandler has demanded that the Australian Olympic Committee ban trans athletes from competing in the Games after America passed a similar rule on Wednesday. 'The Australian Olympic Committee should be doing what all sporting organisations around the world are doing and recognising that female athletes want to have their sporting categories protected,' Wheeler said on Thursday. 'I'm very glad to see sporting organisations finally recognising the need to protect female-only sport, but frankly speaking, it's taken far too long to get to this point. 'We know that World Athletics, World Swimming, World Rugby, all these peak international sporting organisations over the last five years have realised that women's sport needs protecting. 'It is well past time that Australian sporting organisations start doing exactly the same thing.' Chandler's stance hasn't changed since she introduced the Save Women's Sport private member's bill to parliament in 2022. She did so in the hope that it would prevent sporting clubs and organisations from having legal action taken against them for banning trans athletes from competing in single-sex sports for women and girls. Chandler's latest statement was prompted by the seismic ruling against trans athletes that was reported in America on Wednesday. The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has complied with Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender athletes from women's sports, according to NBC News. The report states that the committee updated its policies to prevent trans women from competing against biological females while representing the USA at the Olympics and Paralympics. It was also reported that national governing bodies of sports federations in the US - which oversee sporting events for all ages - must now follow the Olympic and Paralympic Committee's lead, according to several chief executives of sports within the Olympic movement. 'My Save Women's Sports bill is just as relevant now as it was three or four years ago, when I first introduced it to the parliament, and it's ridiculous that women and girls in Australia don't have a legal right to their own sport,' Chandler said. Her stance has come in for criticism from Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown, who has backed the Australian Olympic Committee's decision to leave policies on trans athlete up to individual sports. 'We hope they continue to prioritise inclusion and only restrict participation where there is a clear risk to safety or fairness,' Brown told Sky News. 'Sporting organisations across Australia have worked hard to include trans women and to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and can participate safely and fairly. 'As recently as 2023, after extensive consultation and research, the Australian Institute of Sport found there was no case for a blanket ban on trans athletes in any sport, even at the elite level.' Trans athletes became a huge issue at the 2024 Paris Olympics when boxers Lin Yu-ting and Imane Khelif were wrongly labelled as transgender after they were accused of failing gender eligibility tests that saw them disqualified from the 2023 World Championships. New Zealand's Laurel Hubbard became the first openly trangender woman to compete at the Olympics when she was an entrant in weightlifting at the Tokyo Games in 2021. Her qualification for the Games sparked calls for the International Olympic Committee to change its rules. And last year, Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo became the first transgender Paralympian when she competed in the Paris Games after winning bronze at the World Para Athletics Championships in 2023. Senator Chandler's 2022 private member's bill was also slammed when it was announced. Former Tasmanian anti-discrimination commissioner Robin Banks branded it 'a legislative solution to a non-existent problem' and argued that 'discrimination laws should be about preventing discrimination, not promoting it'. The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) guidelines state that it is important for all Australians to have the chance to compete in sport. 'All Australians should have the opportunity to be involved in sport and physical activity, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, ability, cultural background or ethnicity,' the ASC writes. 'It is important that sporting bodies, from local clubs through to national sporting organisations, reflect the diversity in the communities they are a part of, and that together, we ensure every person is treated with respect and dignity and protected from discrimination.'
Sky News AU
7 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Liberal senator Claire Chandler calls for Australia to follow US Olympic and Paralympic Committee in barring transgender athletes from competition
Liberal Senator Claire Chandler has called for the Australian Olympic Committee to follow the United States' lead and ban transgender athletes from competition. The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) quietly updated its eligibility rules on Monday, slipping into its 27-page Athlete Safety Policy a section saying it would 'collaborate with various stakeholders… to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201'. Executive Order 14201 is more widely known as the Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports order, which US President Donald Trump signed in February. In a letter to governing sporting bodies obtained by US media outlets, USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland and president Gene Sykes said the updated policy 'emphasises the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women.' 'All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment,' the letter warned. The move follows last year's Olympics controversy surrounding gold medalist boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, who are not transgender but reportedly failed prior gender eligibility tests. Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo also became the first Paralympic transgender athlete to compete last year. New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was the first openly transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics in 2021. Senator Chandler welcomed the move by USOPC, calling on the Australian committee to take similar steps. 'The Australian Olympic Committee should be doing what all sporting organisations around the world are doing and recognising that female athletes want to have their sporting categories protected,' Senator Chandler said. 'I'm very glad to see sporting organisations finally recognising the need to protect female-only sport, but frankly speaking, it's taken far too long to get to this point. 'We know that World Athletics, World Swimming, World Rugby, all these peak international sporting organisations over the last five years have realised that women's sport needs protecting. It is well past time that Australian sporting organisations start doing exactly the same thing.' The Liberal called for her parliamentary colleagues to revive her failed Save Women's Sports bill, a private member's bill she introduced in 2022. 'My Save Women's Sports bill is just as relevant now as it was three or four years ago, when I first introduced it to the parliament, and it's ridiculous that women and girls in Australia don't have a legal right to their own sport,' Senator Chandler said. 'That bill is still there and if anyone - government, Coalition, crossbench - wants to pick that bill up and try and get it through the parliament, I think that would be a very useful conversation for us as a parliament to have.' While some sporting bodies including swimming, athletics and cycling have banned transgender participating in international women's competitions, others have been more inclusive. Women's Forum Australia head of advocacy Stephanie Bastiaan said it's 'common sense' for all sporting bodies to reform their policies based on women's sex-based rights. 'We know that women are being injured, we know that they're losing spots at the Olympics and in these categories due to the fact these sporting bodies are not protecting them on the basis of biological sex and I think that they need to put their foot down and make sure that it happens,' Ms Bastiaan said. 'This is a great outcome for girls in the US. The Trump administration is to be commended for its proactive approach in protecting women's sport. 'We need the Australian government to follow suit, bringing in legislative reforms that mandate sporting bodies protect the female category on the basis of biological sex, so that all girls - regardless of whether they're playing at a community, state or elite level - have the right to a safe, fair and equal playing field.' Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown said Australian sporting bodies including the AOC had been navigating the issues around transgender inclusion in a 'sensible and practical way'. 'We hope they continue to prioritise inclusion and only restrict participation where there is a clear risk to safety or fairness,' Ms Brown said. She said given the 'tiny number of trans athletes playing in any sport', a case-by-case approach remained feasible and the most effective way to protect individual rights over 'blunt and harmful blanket bans'. 'Sporting organisations across Australia have worked hard to include trans women and to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and can participate safely and fairly,' Ms Brown said. 'As recently as 2023, after extensive consultation and research, the Australian Institute of Sport found there was no case for a blanket ban on trans athletes in any sport, even at the elite level. 'Its guidelines encourage sporting bodies in Australia to start from a position of inclusion and state that any restrictions must be justified on a case-by-case basis, where strength, stamina and physique are relevant, and be no more restrictive than necessary to ensure meaningful competition for everyone.' An AOC spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.
AU Financial Review
29-05-2025
- Politics
- AU Financial Review
Sussan Ley lays down the law to rivals
Politics can be brutal. Just ask Claire Chandler, the Tasmanian senator who was promoted to the frontbench barely four months ago only to be unceremoniously punted this week by Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. Chandler, who was re-elected to a second six-year Senate term on May 3, didn't even last long enough to make a gaffe.
Sky News AU
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Liberals intend to ‘clearly articulate' to Australians what they believe in
Liberal Senator Claire Chandler discusses how the Liberal Party intends to 'articulate' to the Australian people to believe in them again. 'I do not think this is a case of the Liberal Party needing to go further to the right or further to the left,' Ms Chandler told Sky News host Peta Credlin. 'What we need to do as a party is clearly articulate to Australians what it is we believe in.'
The Guardian
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Coalition to cut 10% of Creative Australia funding to divert to Melbourne Jewish Arts Quarter
A Coalition government would divert more than 10% of annual government funding for Creative Australia to a single cultural project and unspecified broadcasting programs if elected at Saturday's federal election. In the Coalition's policy costings, released on Thursday, the 'safe, sustainable and connected communities' section contained a pledge to 'redirect' $33.2m of Creative Australia's annual funding of $312m 'to Melbourne Jewish Arts Quarter and supporting broadcasting'. The quarter is a planned new centre celebrating Jewish arts, culture, food and shopping in Elsternwick in Melbourne. A Coalition spokesperson did not clarify what 'supporting broadcasting' referred to. Creative Australia and its CEO, Adrian Collette, became the subject of criticism in the Senate in February, when the Coalition's arts spokesperson, Claire Chandler, called into question the funding body's choice of the Lebanese-born Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi as Australia's representative at next year's Venice Biennale. Within 24 hours, Creative Australia had rescinded its commission to Sabsabi and his curator, Michael Dagostino. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Last month, Labor announced $18m for the new Jewish Arts Quarter, which will include a relocated Jewish Museum of Australia, a new Holocaust museum and redevelopment of the Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library. Within days, Chandler announced her party would match Labor's pledge for the project, which sits in the federal electorate of Macnamara, a previously safe Labor seat held by MP Josh Burns since 2019 which is in a tough three-cornered contest this election. On Thursday, the Liberal party's costings showed that pledge had now more than doubled to almost $44m, with the first tranche of $33.2m to be drawn from Creative Australia's coffers in the 2025-26 financial year. 'The Coalition prefers to fund art rather than arts bureaucracy,' a Coalition spokesperson said. 'So we will redirect some funding from Creative Australia towards Coalition priorities in the arts.' Labor's arts minister, Tony Burke, harked backed to a previous Liberal government decision on arts funding, which saw $104.7m redirected from Creative Australia – then called the Australia Council – to a separate kitty, to be dispersed at the discretion of the then Liberal arts minister George Brandis. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'It's the Brandis cuts all over again,' Burke said. 'Last time they went down this path, independent artists and small to medium companies were smashed.' Labor confirmed the $18m it had pledged to the Jewish Arts Quarter would be funded separately from the Creative Australia budget. The Greens' arts spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, condemned what amounted to a 10.65% cut to Creative Australia's 2025-26 funding. 'It is an absolute disgrace that the Liberals' only plan for the arts is a big cut to funding,' she said. 'The arts contribute $112bn to our economy and our artists and workers in the creative industries deserve better. 'We know from the last time that they were in government the Liberals will cut arts funding and attack artistic freedom.' A spokesperson for Creative Australia said on Thursday its CEO did not comment on election commitments.
