Pauline Hanson Rails In Parliament Against ‘Alphabet People’ Over Book Bans

One Nation and Liberal Senators have called for an inquiry into Australia’s current classification system for books and publications, claiming children were being exposed to “age-inappropriate material”. 

One Nation Senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts, UAP Senator Ralph Babet and Liberal Senators Alex Antic and Dean Smith spoke in Parliament on Tuesday to support the motion for an inquiry. The Senators, including Hanson, Antic and Babet specifically targeted Welcome To Sex, written by Melissa Kang and Yumi Stynes. 

The book had been drawn into a controversy after right-wing and conservative figures sought a ban on the book. Big W pulled the book from stores after its staff faced threats and abuses, though it is available online.

Welcome To Sex is not the only book that has drawn right-wing ire. Conservative campaigners recently failed in their attempt to get America’s most-banned book Maia Kobabe’s memoir Gender Queer banned in Australia. 

It’s Not What Australian People Want, Claims Hanson

Senator Hanson used the debate to target the LGBTQI community or as she called them “alphabet people”. 

Hanson claimed she was horrified after flicking through the book Welcome To Sex. “I saw the pages in it: ‘How to have anal sex’, and then you had two women having sex together also. This is just disgusting—the whole book,” Hanson said during the discussion in the Senate. 

“It’s not what the Australian people want,” claimed Hanson. She took aim at other Senators for failing to support her motion for an inquiry into gender affirmative care for trans, non-binary and gender-diverse children. “If you’re going to vote this down, and if you’re going to vote against the gender dysphoria motion, there are a lot of sick puppies in this place,” Hanson decried. 

“We need to address what is actually happening here with our children in this country, and I’m sick and tired of the alphabet people that are pushing their own agendas on our children. What I’ll say to people here is: leave our children alone. I say that on behalf of many, many Australians who have children of their own, and I say it on my own behalf as a grandmother. Leave the children alone,” railed Hanson. 

‘Books Are Trojan Horses’

Senator Roberts who kicked off the discussion claimed the current classification system could not distinguish between a children’s book and actual porn. 

Senator Babet said there was “a war on for the souls and the minds of this nation’s children.”

“There are things that I as a grown adult learnt from that book (Welcome To Sex)—and I can never unlearn them. It was disgusting. It’s degeneracy. This book talks about all kinds of sex acts, and it provides instructions and graphic illustrations on how to complete these adult sex acts,” ranted the Senator, adding that the current classification system should be strengthened. 

Senator Antic claimed the books were “ostensibly trojan horses for radical gender theory dressed up as sex education for our kids, and we need to call them out for what they are. These are not simple education manuals. They are books enclosing radical gender theory, and we need to have this review.”

Government Refuses To Back One Nation’s Motion

One Nation’s motion is likely to be put up for a vote on Wednesday. 

Senator Dean Smith told the Senate that the Liberals would not oppose the motion. Minister Murray Watts said that the government would not support the One Nation motion, pointing out that a review of the classification process was in the works.

“Australians rely on classifications to make informed media choices, especially when it comes to what content to show their kids, but successive reviews have found that the classification system is long overdue for reform,” said Watts. 

“In March this year, the government announced a two-stage process to reform the classification framework. The government will commence consultation later this year and welcomes the participation of all those interested in the classification scheme through that process,” the Minister added.