- by Peter Farmer
- The Guardian
- Issue #2203
Graphic: freesvg.org
References to gender equality have been removed from the Queensland Office for Women’s website. This includes important parts such as the government’s mission for a gender-equal Queensland and its approach to the gender pay gap.
The reasons are vague and mixed. It was reported that it was to ‘dewokify’ the public service, as the term ‘gender’ makes the LNP government think about the LGBTQIA+ community. Was Queensland worrying too much about equality? Or – more likely – does the LNP just not like measures designed to help women and queer people.
It’s been suggested that Minister for Women Fiona Simpson found the term ‘gender’ to be ‘on the nose.’ The minister reportedly denies this.
Sue Williamson in a recent article for The Mandarin argues that removal of the term ‘gender’ from Queensland government websites is much more than just “reframing” the wording, as the Queensland government has suggested. Williamson says that the change is a backlash, and that “dewokify” is “code for dismantling gender equality initiatives in particular, and Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives more broadly.”
The Crisafulli government’s record backs her up. The LNP has “paused” Respect at Work reforms to the Anti-Discrimination Act. Those reforms would have imposed a positive duty on employers to proactively prevent sex discrimination, but the Crisafulli government doesn’t want to bother employers with that.
Significantly, the government has also cancelled the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry, set up so that Indigenous people could talk and be taken seriously on the ongoing impacts of colonisation. The LNP government has changed the colour of the Office for Women’s website from traditionally feminist purple to the blue of the LNP.
