Dutton says frontbenchers who backed Hanson’s call for transgender healthcare inquiry entitled to conscience vote

Josh Butler and Dan Jervis-Bardy

Feb. 11, 2025, 4:39 a.m.

Opposition leader also doubles down on party’s call to gag attorney general speaking about antisemitism in parliament

Peter Dutton has endorsed the decision of numerous senior Coalition frontbenchers to support a Pauline Hanson motion calling for an inquiry into healthcare for transgender children, saying it was a “conscience vote” issue, despite a recent order to his caucus to avoid culture war topics.

The opposition leader also doubled down on his party’s decision to seek to gag attorney general Mark Dreyfus, the nation’s most senior Jewish politician, as he spoke about antisemitism in parliament on Monday. Dutton accused Dreyfus of a “slur” in saying that the Coalition was politicising antisemitism, which the attorney general strongly denied.

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