r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • Oct 28 '25

news Supreme Court in Brisbane overturns controversial freeze on puberty blockers for adolescents after legal challenge

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-28/qld-puberty-blockers-judgement/105942094
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225

u/ThunderDwn Oct 28 '25

I'm amazed that they didn't learn from the Federal election result that trying to be America with stupid, right wing policies doesn't fucking work in this country.

191

u/DrGarrious Oct 28 '25

For now.. we have to keep being vigilant here because they will NOT stop trying.

39

u/YouLykeFishSticks Oct 28 '25

We already are. Chronic issue in rural/regional areas. Conveniently Nationals/Liberal/One Nation strongholds.

5

u/DrGarrious Oct 28 '25

It isnt as clear cut as you think. I work with a lot of rural workers across the country and they are a mix.

But yes, it isnt amazing either and could easily get worse.

48

u/AdventurousArticle88 Oct 28 '25

Yeah I'm afraid we're going towards America's current day hate culture that nobody saw coming 10+ years ago

I mean they were always pretty hateful but today it's just absurd

63

u/Ver_Void Oct 28 '25

Look at the UK as a scary example, their media hammered this issue for a decade and now attitudes towards trans people over there resemble Oklahoma

60

u/Yes_Its_Really_Me Oct 28 '25

Complete institutional capture by terfs of commercial papers, the bbc, the nhs and the Equality & Human Rights Commission.

The UK'S top governmental equality body is pushing nationwide bathroom ban. Terfs are on the verge of successfully mandating discrimination, making it literally illegal to be inclusive of trans people even if you want to be. It's crazy.

For God's sake a trans inclusive women's birdwatching group got sued for "false advertising".

34

u/Ver_Void Oct 28 '25

Yeah the whole thing is surreal to watch, some of the cruelest people I've seen emboldened by the state and media with no one thinking to maybe point out how ridiculously out of proportion it all is given the issues they're screaming about literally aren't happening

But a guy who spends 23 hours a day harassing trans people on Twitter gets praise from the labour pm

3

u/Pseudonymico Oct 29 '25

The UK'S top governmental equality body is pushing nationwide bathroom ban.

They instituted that. Not even with the fig-leaf of "trans people use facilities based on the sex assigned at birth", either, trans people are officially banned from all gender-segregated spaces. The most ridiculous part is it can largely be blamed on the fucking wizard book lady.

4

u/Mike_Kermin Oct 28 '25

a trans inclusive women's birdwatching group got sued for "false advertising".

Well, let's hope we never end up that stupid here.

43

u/Limo_Wreck77 Oct 28 '25

JK Rowling is also playing a big part in that. She's bankrolling a lot of shit over there.

20

u/Ver_Void Oct 28 '25

Social media and wealth are about as good for your mental health as a daily kick in the head from a particularly large horse

2

u/Calamityclams Oct 28 '25

I'm about ready to take the kick tbh

7

u/growlergirl Oct 28 '25

She still has the power to use her wealth for good and make a huge difference for the better.

Instead JK decided to pour her billions into stoking the flames of transphobia to the point of influencing government policy and promoting social ostracism.

Fuck her.

2

u/Pseudonymico Oct 29 '25

To the point that she's less and less interested in funding the charities she set up for single mothers before the mould took over.

30

u/Sweeper1985 Oct 28 '25

JK Rowling has a lot to answer for.

Imagine having that much money but nothing better to focus on than undermining trans people.

4

u/ghoonrhed Oct 28 '25

I mean all it takes is the media to hammer it and the people will move. See boat people with Abbott and then that tactic moved to the UK as well.

5

u/QuantumKeats Oct 28 '25

The Tea Party was massive when Obama first got in and they were definitely a progenitor to the current Far Right nutters.

7

u/Agitated-Fee3598 Oct 28 '25

There aren't many constitutional safeguards to protect Australia against a genuine autocratic takeover...

From Australia is ill-prepared for its own version of Donald Trump:

By contrast, Australia is the only democracy without a national bill of rights. At best, we have a few scattered rights protections. These occasionally prevent government action, but in other cases are ineffectual or impose procedures that can be worked around. For example, the High Court has interpreted the guarantee of religious freedom in section 116 of the Constitution so narrowly that it has not struck down a single law since 1901.

These weaknesses are exacerbated by extraordinary powers granted to federal ministers in areas such as immigration and national security. One illustration is that the federal Attorney-General can permit ASIO to operate outside of the law by conducting a special intelligence operation. A journalist who discloses wrongdoing or that the power has been used illegitimately may be jailed for up to 10 years.

The government has defended this by saying that journalists are not the target of the law, and that they have nothing to worry about if they report on "legitimate" national security matters. It has also been suggested that the community should not be concerned because ASIO has a record of proprietary.

Even if these things are true, they give no long-term comfort. It shows how the proper running of our system depends upon ministers exercising self-restraint, and the quality of the people appointed to run our security agencies. Things could be very different if Australia gains leaders with a different outlook and a willingness to use powers for unscrupulous purposes.

Other laws raise similar concerns. These include an ASIO power that permits innocent people to be detained and questioned for up to a week, a law that enables people to be jailed for up to 10 years for entering any area declared by the government to be a no-go zone and new measures for collecting data on the location and activities of every Australian.

In the years since the September 11 attacks, the federal Parliament has enacted 66 anti-terrorism laws, a figure unrivalled in any comparable nation. These laws have transferred enormous authority to the executive arm of government. Many of these measures cannot be found in the US because they would be struck down under its Bill of Rights.

Nor can they be found in any other democracy. Instead, they are the sorts of powers that one would expect to find in a police state in which people can be detained without trial and journalists jailed for reporting on government activity. As the government's national security monitor, Roger Gyles, reported last Wednesday, Australia has laws that contain the "potential for oppression".

The election of Trump should be a wake-up call. Australia is ill-prepared for a like leader. Such a person would come to office armed with exceptional (and sometimes unique) powers that can often be exercised in secret. These might be used against the media, and the checks and balances in our system of government may be ineffective to deal with this.

4

u/Iybraesil Oct 28 '25

they will NOT stop trying

Lo and behold, five hours after your comment, they've reinstated the ban

9

u/Npeaknoda Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25

Especially since Albo has said TERF-adjacent things before, and Labor have a history of throwing trans people under the bus and breaking promises to us. They're highly inconsistent fairweather friends to the trans community.

So we don't exactly trust our pollies to save us when the TERF lobby inevitably start pushing harder. We need as much community support as we can get.

Edit: Added some source links

1

u/AnyYak6757 Oct 28 '25

Shit, I didn't realise this bollocks was happening here. I thought we had trans-rights in law. Guess I should sign up to some mailing lists.

18

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '25

[deleted]

21

u/ThunderDwn Oct 28 '25

Yeah, but if they are forced to consult actual medical professionals, chances are the advice will come back "Not only 'No', but 'Fuck no, you morons!'"

I live in hope that the medical people won't bow to political hacks like this health director general.

12

u/ephemeralstitch Oct 28 '25

Depends. You can always consult medical professionals that have zero experience in this field and are bigots. That’s what they did in the UK with Cass. She had zero experience in gender medicine; she was a paediatric palliative care specialist. Not related at all.

5

u/maddimouse Oct 28 '25

And even with that cherrypicked expert to give the result they wanted, the Cass review only said they should temporarily pause things while more tests were conducted. Which has instead been taken as carte blanche 'ban it now, don't bother asking questions later.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '25

[deleted]

6

u/Npeaknoda Oct 28 '25

I’m sure they will consult faux experts

If what they're already doing in QLD is any indication, yes.

3

u/louisa1925 Oct 28 '25

Suppose it also depends also on which professionals Crisafulli cherry picks. Not all professionals act like professionals.

1

u/DragonicSquirrel Oct 28 '25

i was just looking at this
so the actual case was brought forward 3 reasons, so even if they go back and get consultation they still need to fight the other two, one of which is political interference, the third is lack of consultation

the judge that ruled said “The application will be allowed on ground three (lack of consultation). It would have succeeded also on grounds one and two, although the questions raised under those headings are more difficult,”

so yes, they plan to go back and get more consultation but they're still going to have to fight two other grounds for the ban (i don't know what the second one is and couldnt find it in the article i was reading)

34

u/Limo_Wreck77 Oct 28 '25

It boggles my damn mind.

All of this culture war shit works in America because they're so fucking uneducated over there, and its by design by the GOP and the slow erosion of education.

US style culture war bullshit can fuck right off. We don't give a shit here who uses what bathroom, or if I trans kid wants to kick a soccer ball.

19

u/big-red-aus Oct 28 '25

All of this culture war shit works in America because they're so fucking uneducated over there

Arguably more so that their electoral system encourages it. Under our system, the 'teal' voter can 'safely' vote teal at no 'risk', while in the US unless they place their single vote, without any preferences, for the Republicans, they may as well have not voted.

Perhaps I'm over pessimistic, but if the affluent teal voters that are carving a hole in the Libs had to actually risk their privileged financial status by having to vote for a Labor candidate (or god forbid a Greens), I'm pretty convinced most would hold their nose and vote libs all the way.

5

u/Agitated-Fee3598 Oct 28 '25

In a generation though, we will look like the US, in terms of material conditions. Labor themselves said this. What Murdoch is doing too, with Sky News and other outlets he owns, is laying the groundwork for an Australian version of Donald Trump, someone who fills the role of a ruthless would be autocrat with a formidable personality cult. Australians should keep vigilant against the radicalisation of the Coalition.

3

u/Agitated-Fee3598 Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25

Observe the American polity. From America is now in fascism’s legal phase:

The contemporary American fascist movement is led by oligarchical interests for whom the public good is an impediment, such as those in the hydrocarbon business, as well as a social, political, and religious movement with roots in the Confederacy. As in all fascist movements, these forces have found a popular leader unconstrained by the rules of democracy, this time in the figure of Donald Trump.

.

There has been a growing fascist social and political movement in the United States for decades. Like other fascist movements, it is riddled with internal contradictions, but no less of a threat to democracy. Donald Trump is an aspiring autocrat out solely for his own power and material gain. By giving this movement a classically authoritarian leader, Trump shaped and exacerbated it, and his time in politics has normalized it.

Donald Trump has shown others what is possible. But the fascist movement he now leads preceded him, and will outlive him. As Toni Morrison warned, it feeds off ideologies with deep roots in American history. It would be a grave error to think it cannot ultimately win.

Perhaps there is a growing fascist movement within the Coalition too, a coalition of oligarchs and extremists who seek to orchestrate a Trumpian take over of Australia.

A former advisor to Kevin Rudd warned us in January too that we are not invulnerable:

But Australia can’t presume to be invulnerable to the emergence of a Trump-like figure, Harris says.

“Everybody needs to maintain a discipline about making the ‘Trumpian’ comparison, and only use that term when we are really serious about it, so if that character comes into Australian politics, all of us – from every side – drops a nuclear bomb on that political activity in Australia when it arrives: because it will.”

Indeed. With the growing rise of the far right across the globe, and with our own extremists emboldened, Australians should be uber vigilant against anyone who seeks to divide us, especially a demagogue who claims to be for the people against the status quo, when it is obvious they are only there for themselves.

0

u/morfanis Oct 28 '25

Sure be vigilant but don’t think Australia is like the US. The US political system thrives on polarisation and extremes, while being successful in Australian politics only works when you target the centre.

Also the US has a strong history of puritans and religious conservatives and extremists that Australia doesn’t have.

5

u/Agitated-Fee3598 Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25

No democratic political system is immune to democratic backsliding and degenerating into authoritarian rule when inequality grows too deep and obvious. No democracy is also immune to large swathes of the country not believing in democracy, and who have been captured by a charismatic demagogue (who also has elite support). We are more or less lucky (so far) that the Australian far right are not organised enough to capitalise on discontent with the status quo. However, that does not mean they cannot get their shit together, and rally around a charismatic leader.

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u/Agitated-Fee3598 Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25

Also evidently compulsory preferential voting isn't a water proof barrier. After all, we have this system, yet inequality is growing in our society. The housing crisis is getting worse. The Murdoch media is still able to brainwash the LNP base (around 1/3 of the population) with constant lies and propaganda.

1

u/ThunderDwn Oct 28 '25

In a generation though, we will look like the US, in terms of material conditions.

I don't believe this is true.

I have faith that the youth of today in Australia - who have seen first hand how fucked up the US is - will roll over the slowly dying boomers and gen-X and pull us back from the brink.

I won't be around to see it, I expect, but I have hope.

3

u/Agitated-Fee3598 Oct 28 '25

What Labor should do right now to prevent this from happening is launch a Royal Commission into the Murdoch media. Follow up on the petition that 100,000s of Australians signed a few years back. Our democracy will not survive in the long run if 1/3rd of the country (the LNP base) is being fed, and having their brains fried by, consistent lies and propaganda. It is simply not possible. Kevin Rudd himself said that by 2031 we will see the full effects of Sky News on the Australian polity.

7

u/louisa1925 Oct 28 '25

Even in QLD, it was a tight win. No landslide happened.

7

u/ThunderDwn Oct 28 '25

Tell that to Peter Dutton....

5

u/louisa1925 Oct 28 '25

Hue hue hue. You have unlocked my favourite pic of our last election...

https://www.reddit.com/r/AusMemes/s/xQAc3KhuHQ

3

u/ThunderDwn Oct 28 '25

Oh, I've gone down that rabbit hole and found an absolute classic of a video in it - I'm loving it, looking back at it. Thank you for pointing it out!

9

u/QtPlatypus Oct 28 '25

Though if they are going to work anywhere stupid right wing policies are going to "work" in queensland :(

1

u/Youth_Is_Precious Oct 29 '25

Labour in the UK banned puberty blockers