Family First National Director and NSW Legislative Council candidate Lyle Shelton is calling on Queensland Premier David Crisafulli to urgently recall Parliament and legislate to ban puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and gender transition surgery for minors, saying decisions of such profound consequence for children must be made by elected representatives, not forced upon Queenslanders through tribunal litigation.
The Australian today reports that up to 500 children are now part of an unprecedented QCAT class action seeking to overturn the Queensland Government's restrictions on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, with applicants potentially seeking $50,000 each in compensation.
The action, brought by the Queensland LGBTI Legal Service, could expose taxpayers to millions of dollars and potentially pressure the Government to restore access to medical gender transition treatments for children.
Mr Shelton said the Crisafulli Government should respond by putting the issue where it belongs - before Parliament.
"Queensland Parliament has never properly debated and voted on whether children should be injected with puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones which can affect their fertility and sexual development and can put them on a pathway towards irreversible surgery," Mr Shelton said.
"That debate is long overdue.
"Premier Crisafulli should recall Parliament, introduce legislation banning these practices on minors and require every MP to put his or her vote on the record.
"The question of whether a child can meaningfully consent to interventions carrying potentially lifelong consequences is a profound matter of child protection and public policy. It should not be decided because a taxpayer-funded activist legal service succeeds in litigation before a tribunal.
"This is what democracy is for. Let Queenslanders see where their elected representatives stand."
Mr Shelton said the international evidence had shifted dramatically against the assumptions underpinning paediatric gender medicine.
Britain's landmark Cass Review found the evidence supporting medical interventions for gender-distressed children was remarkably weak. The UK subsequently stopped routine NHS prescribing of puberty blockers to minors and later made restrictions on their supply indefinite.
The systematic review of clinical guidelines commissioned as part of the Cass process also raised serious concerns about the rigour and transparency of influential international guidelines, including those produced by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).
"Claims that this is all settled medicine simply cannot survive what has happened internationally," Mr Shelton said.
"Countries which have seriously interrogated the evidence have stepped back. Yet in Australia activists continue trying to entrench these practices without our parliaments ever having properly authorised them.
"Family First believes children experiencing gender distress deserve compassion, careful psychological support and time to mature - not a medical pathway which attempts to change their bodies.
"Giving a child drugs to suppress normal puberty and potentially commencing a pathway towards cross-sex hormones and irreversible surgery is itself a radical attempt to change a child.
"If a supposedly conservative government does not have the courage to bring this question before Parliament, LGBTQA+ activists will continue attempting to achieve through tribunals and courts what they have never been required to win through democratic debate.
"Premier Crisafulli has already recognised the serious concerns surrounding these treatments. Now he needs to finish the job.
"Recall Parliament. Legislate. Protect children - and let every Queensland MP be accountable to voters for their decision."
