Wednesday, 18 March 2026

 Moira DEEMING (Western Metropolitan) (09:55): Let us talk about misogyny in Victoria. We have all been told that there is absolutely no downside to letting men claim to be women under the law and that if we say otherwise, well, then we are bigots unfit to be members of Parliament or polite society. But then we found out that this government has already made a secret damages payout with our taxes because a male murderer claimed to be a woman, was put in a woman’s prison and of course raped a young mum who was unfortunate enough to be sharing his cell. Then we found out about the male child rapist, also in the women’s prison, who, I was very condescendingly told by a man, was isolated for her own safety. He is now suing the government over that, and he is doing it using our taxpayer dollars. Then we had the Melbourne man that pleaded guilty twice to secretly filming women and girls in public toilets – over 150 videos – and the judge let him go free without conviction or even a proper fine. Why? Because he was questioning his gender. Gender identity should never trump the safety of women and girls. It is time to end these legal fictions. Women and girls are getting sexually harassed, assaulted and raped, and then the taxpayers are being left to foot the bill for the inevitable lawsuits – and all for the sake of men whose feelings are more important than our safety. I will tell you what: the patriarchy is real, and Labor brought it back.