2026-04-16
Quotes attributable to Laura Nuttall MLA ACT Greens Spokesperson for Women and LGBTIQA+ Affairs.
“The gendered division of health policy from the Canberra Liberals gives a simplistic view of gender and plays into harmful and backwards stereotypes.
The gender binary and gender norms are harmful. Masculine norms, for example, frown upon men displaying vulnerability or even attending a doctor. That contributes to loneliness, depression and suicide.
“Framing health in terms of men’s problems and women’s problems contributes to the very problems the Liberals are seeking to solve. Reinforcing that binary is counterproductive.
“In the Canberra Liberals’ announcement, fatherhood is listed as a men’s issue, while reproduction, not motherhood, is classified as a women’s issue. Women are more than just their capacity to give birth, and men contribute to reproduction too.
“This binary categorisation also excludes those who do not fit these categories, including many non-binary, gender diverse, trans and intersex people, who already experience social exclusion and poorer health outcomes.”
Quotes attributable to Shane Rattenbury MLA, Spokesperson for Health and Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence.
“We need to bring people together to address the health and wellbeing issues our communities are facing, not divide and exclude them.
“Right now Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence is a national crisis. Specifically, there is an epidemic of men’s violence towards women. The annual “What Were You Wearing” rally to end violence against women this weekend serves as a grim reminder for why we must not lose focus on gendered violence.
“Addressing men’s behaviour is not a women’s issue. It’s incredibly unfair to expect women to be the architects of a solution to the system of gendered violence that harms them– the onus should be on the perpetrators, who can be of any gender, but who are overwhelmingly men. We need to both set up and fund men’s behaviour change programs and women’s safety programs–not one or the other.
“To only list Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence as a women’s issue also omits the experience of male victims. A genuine response to these forms of violence looks at support for victims and behaviour change for perpetrators.”