Weekend Wrap for 23 May 2026
Welcome to the NSL Weekend Wrap for 23 May 2026. The Wrap covers Australian secular politics — religious privilege and funding, religion in public schools, discrimination laws, voluntary assisted dying, and many other related issues. If someone forwarded this to you, you can subscribe on our website.
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If last week's dominant theme was the courts affirming rights while politicians announced their intent to strip them, this week's theme was the politicians getting to work. Across four states and the national parliament, few weeks in recent memory have concentrated this much activity at the intersection of religious conservatism, LGBTI politics, and reproductive rights.
NSW Premier Chris Minns told a press conference on Tuesday that "biological differences between people who are born male and people who were born female" need to be "reflected in the law". To be fair to Minns: he did not call for legislative change, and said existing NSW law already contains the relevant distinctions and should be upheld. That careful framing did not satisfy advocates, who pointed out that describing trans people as incompatible with existing law while refusing to defend them is not neutrality; it's a position.
In South Australia's upper house, former federal senator Cory Bernardi delivered his maiden speech on 20 May. Greens MLCs walked out when he turned to transgender people and gender-affirming healthcare, which he described as doctors "mutilating children." On the same day, fellow One Nation MLC Chantelle Thomas made her first speech, describing what she characterised as social and moral "rot." These are not fringe voices in the SA parliament: One Nation holds four lower house seats and three upper house seats following the March state election. They have arrived with an agenda, and Bernardi's maiden speech was its opening statement.
Lyle Shelton — former director of the Australian Christian Lobby and leader of the "No" campaign in the 2017 marriage equality plebiscite — is running for the NSW Legislative Council under a Family First-backed group ticket at the next state election. His stated central issue is anti-vilification laws, which he describes as being "weaponised" against conservatives. His candidacy continues a pattern of ACL-aligned figures translating their advocacy work into direct electoral bids.
South Australia's One Nation-aligned independent MLC Sarah Game introduced an abortion restriction bill that would remove the mental health clause and foetal abnormality grounds for abortions performed after 25 weeks. This is her third attempt in two years, and she says she now has the numbers. Separately, in NSW, a pro-life rally is planned for 2 June outside Parliament House ahead of a Legislative Council debate on Libertarian MLC John Ruddick's bill to ban sex-selective abortions. These bills are being moved by people who know the landscape has changed since Farrer.
Two steadier signals from the other side of the ledger. Tasmania's Premier Jeremy Rockliff told parliament he has "no plans" to change the state's Anti-Discrimination Act in response to sustained lobbying by Women Speak Tasmania, which has been urging MPs to rewrite gender identity protections around "biological sex." And in Canberra, independent MP Monique Ryan confirmed she will not support the Coalition's proposed Sex Discrimination Act amendments — giving progressives another clear crossbench statement against the "biological sex" package the Opposition announced in direct response to the recent Tickle v Giggle outcome.
News this week
NSW: Lyle Shelton launches NSW upper house candidacy centred on anti-vilification laws (17 May 2026)
Former Australian Christian Lobby director and "No" campaign leader Lyle Shelton announced this week that he will stand for the NSW Legislative Council under a Family First-backed independent group ticket at the next state election. Shelton's stated focus is what he calls Australia's "free speech crisis" — framed principally around anti-vilification laws he characterises as being "weaponised" against conservatives. More than six years of litigation over his public comments about drag story time events produced largely adverse findings before a partial appellate reversal in late 2025. His entry into NSW upper house politics adds an explicitly anti-LGBTQIA+ protection voice to the legislative contest for the NSW upper house.
➧ READ MORE:
Star Observer
NSW: ‘Extremely Concerning’: Chris Minns Slammed Over Trump-Like ‘Biological Differences’ Comments (19 May 2026)
Premier Chris Minns told reporters that "biological differences between people who are born male and people who were born female" need to be "reflected in the law," mentioning prison allocations and female sport. Minns said existing NSW law already contains the relevant distinctions and should be upheld — he did not call for legislative change. LGBTQIA+ advocates criticised the comments nonetheless, with the Greens' Amanda Cohn describing them as "extremely concerning" and arguing they signal that anti-trans rhetoric is being adopted across the major party spectrum. The comments came less than a week after the Full Federal Court affirmed in Tickle v Giggle that transgender women are protected under the existing Sex Discrimination Act.
➧ READ MORE:
Star Observer
QNews
SA: Cory Bernardi's maiden speech sparks Greens walkout (20 May 2026)
Greens MLCs Robert Simms and Melanie Selwood walked out of the South Australian Legislative Council during Cory Bernardi's inaugural speech. Bernardi, elected as One Nation's SA parliamentary leader at the March state election, described gender-affirming healthcare as doctors "mutilating children" and mocked Welcome to Country ceremonies, saying he did not need to be "welcomed to my own country." He later posted on social media that he took the walkout "as a compliment." One Nation won four lower house and three upper house seats in South Australia at the March election and holds real numbers in both chambers.
➧ READ MORE:
Star Observer
QNews
SA: ‘Moral rot’: One Nation’s Chantelle Thomas makes first speech in SA parliament (20 May 2026)
On the same day as Bernardi's maiden speech, One Nation MLC Chantelle Thomas made her first speech in the SA Legislative Council. Thomas used the occasion to describe what she characterised as social and moral "rot" in Australia. Together, the two speeches signalled One Nation's intended posture in the SA upper house: sustained right-wing cultural critique from a position of genuine parliamentary weight.
➧ READ MORE:
InDaily
TAS: Tasmanian Premier says ‘no plans’ to change anti-discrimination laws (20 May 2026)
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff told parliament the government has "no plans" to change the state's Anti-Discrimination Act, in response to a question from independent Clark MP Kristie Johnston following lobbying by Women Speak Tasmania — a campaign group that has been pressing MPs to amend gender identity protections, ban trans women from women's services and sport, and reframe anti-discrimination provisions around "biological sex." Johnston welcomed the commitment. Rockliff's statement is a meaningful signal against rolling back existing protections, though it falls short of any commitment to advance equality reform.
➧ READ MORE:
OUTinPerth
Star Observer
SA: Third attempt to change SA's abortion laws since 2024 goes before state parliament (20 May 2026)
One Nation-aligned independent MLC Sarah Game introduced a bill to remove the mental health clause and serious foetal abnormality grounds for abortions performed after 25 weeks in South Australia. This is Game's third attempt in two years. She says she now has enough upper house support to pass the bill. Cory Bernardi confirmed One Nation has longstanding policy opposing late-term abortion and would examine the specifics. The bill has attracted strong opposition from women's health groups and reproductive rights advocates.
➧ READ MORE:
ABC News
InDaily
NSW: NSW to debate ban on sex-selective abortion (20 May 2026)
A pro-life rally is planned for Tuesday 2 June outside NSW Parliament House ahead of a Legislative Council debate the following day on a private member's bill by Libertarian MLC John Ruddick that would ban abortions sought solely on the basis of the unborn child's sex. Organiser and law academic Dr Joanna Howe is expecting between 10,000 and 20,000 attendees. Speakers will include Bishop Tony Percy, Australian Christian Churches president Pastor Joel Chelliah, and Dr Melissa Lai of Pro-life Health Professionals Australia. The Australian Christian Lobby is among the event's sponsors. Ruddick told The Catholic Weekly he believed the vote would be close but gave the bill "a good chance" of passing, which would make it the first legislative restriction on NSW abortion since decriminalisation in 2019. The Greens' Amanda Cohn described the bill as "badly drafted" and "a thinly-veiled attempt to incrementally recriminalise abortion," noting there is no evidence sex-selective abortion is occurring under the current framework. The rally and debate are both scheduled for early June.
➧ READ MORE:
The Catholic Weekly
National: Dr Monique Ryan rules out support for Coalition Sex Discrimination Act amendments (21 May 2026)
Independent member for Kooyong Dr Monique Ryan confirmed this week that she will not support the Coalition's proposed amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act — the changes announced by Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor in direct response to the Tickle v Giggle Full Federal Court ruling the week prior. Ryan said the proposed changes would remove vital protections for transgender Australians. The statement signals that the "biological sex" framing is not finding traction among crossbench independents elected on progressive platforms, though the Coalition has indicated it would only move on the SDA if it forms government.
➧ READ MORE:
OUTinPerth
National: High Court rejects White Australia's bid for urgent injunction against hate group listing (21 May 2026)
The former National Socialist Network — now rebranded as White Australia — sought an urgent injunction in the High Court to block Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's declaration proscribing it as a prohibited hate group under laws passed in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack. High Court Justice Jayne Jagot rejected the urgency application, noting that group leader Thomas Sewell had been on notice the listing was coming and that the conditions relied on for urgency were "of its own making." The application will now be heard at a full directions hearing between 2 and 5 June, with a two-day final hearing on the constitutional validity of the hate speech laws scheduled for September 2026. A successful challenge would have direct implications for the legislative framework protecting LGBTQIA+ Australians from organised vilification.
➧ READ MORE:
SBS News
WA: Regional LGBTIQA+ advocates dismiss Minister Beazley's letter as a "non-response" (22 May 2026)
LGBTIQA+ community advocates in WA's South West have publicly dismissed a letter from Equal Opportunity Minister Hannah Beazley as a "non-response" to their longstanding calls for the Cook Labor government to remove religious exemptions from government service contracts, update hate speech laws, and deliver a promised conversion practices ban. Advocates noted that the Minister acknowledged their concerns but provided no legislative timelines. Religious organisations currently receive government contracts to deliver public services while retaining statutory rights to discriminate against LGBTIQA+ people.
➧ READ MORE:
OUTinPerth
National: GRAI warns Parliament has one chance to get Defence veterans inquiry right (22 May 2026)
GRAI (GLBTI Rights in Ageing Inc) has lodged a submission to the Senate inquiry into the Defence Force Discipline Amendment (RCDVS Implementation and Related Measures No. 1) Bill 2026, warning that the bill as drafted will fail many of the LGBTIQA+ veterans it purports to help. The bill creates a pathway to extinguish historical homosexual service offence convictions — but GRAI argues that it excludes veterans who were never formally convicted: those who were administratively discharged, forced to resign, or had security clearances revoked under historical policies targeting gay and lesbian service members. GRAI is calling for the bill to be amended to capture these non-conviction pathways, and is encouraging veterans and their families to either submit directly to the Senate inquiry or provide information confidentially to GRAI. Submissions close 31 May 2026. Details in the Opportunities for Action section below.
➧ READ MORE:
OUTinPerth
Commentary and analysis
Neil Foster: Giggle v Tickle, the Federal Court Appeal — Two Steps Back (16 May 2026)
Law and Religion Australia's Neil Foster analyses the Full Federal Court's Tickle v Giggle ruling from a critical perspective — arguing the court took "two steps back" by finding that the Sex Discrimination Act's transgender protections extend context-independently. Foster's reading of the judgment is detailed and worth engaging with precisely because it represents the serious legal argument behind what Conservative parties and Family First are making in political terms. Understanding the case being made — rather than dismissing it — is useful for those who support the outcome in Tickle v Giggle and want to counter arguments for legislative reversal.
➧ READ MORE:
Law and Religion Australia
John Menadue: The weaponisation of antisemitism by the Zionist lobby hides the genocide (18 May 2026)
In his personal submission to the Antisemitism Royal Commission, Pearls & Irritations founder John Menadue argues that the Commission itself was the product of successful lobby pressure rather than genuine policy need, and that the term "antisemitism" has been systematically expanded to encompass criticism of Israel — a distortion that, he argues, undermines the concept's legitimate force precisely when it is most needed. Menadue argues that a national Human Rights Act would serve all Australians more effectively than a narrowly focused antisemitism inquiry, noting that a Parliamentary Select Committee recommended such a law two years ago and the Albanese government has sat on the report ever since. He raises the disparity between the government's same-day adoption of the Segal report on antisemitism and its continuing silence on the Malik Islamophobia report. He questions the role of faith-based schools in cultivating loyalty to Israel alongside — or ahead of — loyalty to Australia. And he draws attention to Scanlon Foundation research finding that negative attitudes toward Muslims in Australia significantly exceed those toward Jews, yet receive a fraction of the political and media attention.
➧ READ MORE:
Pearls and Irritations
Paul Laris: Catch 22? A problematic definition of antisemitism (21 May 2026)
Writing as a submission to the Antisemitism Royal Commission, health and social policy commentator Paul Laris argues that the IHRA working definition of antisemitism — adopted by the Australian Government — creates a rhetorical trap: the same behaviour said to be driving antisemitism (outrage at Israel's conduct in Gaza) is itself classified as antisemitism under the definition. Laris draws on a Jewish Council of Australia submission to the Commission finding that nearly half of all incidents reported as antisemitic were, under the Council's own narrower definition, simply support for Palestine or criticism of Israel or Zionism. He compares Australia's limited sanctions against Israel with the more than 1,400 sanctions it imposed against Russia and argues that the Government's refusal to clearly condemn Israeli conduct has deepened rather than reduced community tension.
➧ READ MORE:
Pearls and Irritations
Opportunities for action
CURRENT
National: GRAI (GLBTI Rights in Ageing Inc) is urging former and current LGBTIQA+ Defence personnel to engage with the Senate inquiry into the Defence Force Discipline Amendment (RCDVS Implementation and Related Measures No. 1) Bill 2026 before 31 May 2026. The bill would extinguish historical homosexual service offence convictions but, as drafted, excludes veterans who were never formally convicted — those who were administratively discharged, forced to resign, or had security clearances removed. Affected veterans and their families can submit directly to the Senate inquiry or provide information confidentially to GRAI. Visit the OUTinPerth story for details and links.
NSW: The NSW Human Rights Bill 2025 has been referred to a parliamentary inquiry and submissions are now open. The Australian Christian Lobby is actively mobilising its networks to oppose the Bill. Secular, humanist, and human rights voices are needed to counterbalance the religious lobby's input. Visit the NSW Parliament website to find the inquiry and submission details. Submissions close 3 July 2026.
TAS: The independent statutory review of Tasmania's End-of-Life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) Act 2021 is underway. Community members, particularly those with experience of the VAD system, are encouraged to make written submissions, with public consultations scheduled at the University of Tasmania Law School (Sandy Bay) and Cygnet Town Hall. The review is also conducting a public survey. Do not leave this space to the ACL alone: secular voices supporting VAD access and adequate safeguards must be heard. Contact VADReview@health.tas.gov.au for submission details. More details about the review can be found at the Tasmanian Department of Health's website.
TAS: Tasmania: Equality Tasmania, Women's Health Tasmania, and Working It Out have formally written to the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner requesting an inquiry into the proposed sale of Hobart Private Hospital to Calvary Health Care. If you are a Tasmanian who supports continued access to gender-affirming and other healthcare services that Calvary's Catholic ethical guidelines would prohibit, consider contacting the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner's office to support the call for an inquiry or following Equality Tasmania's campaign.
National: Dying With Dignity NSW has an opportunity for people to send a message to Attorney-General Michelle Rowland and ask her to make changes to improve VAD availability (by using telehealth). For people in regional areas and those who are unable to travel it is more difficult, or even impossible, to access VAD. This could be easily fixed by excluding VAD from telehealth prohibition. Visit their campaign here.
National: Go Gentle Australia's 2026 State of VAD Report made a compelling case for a straightforward amendment to the Commonwealth Criminal Code: remove the restriction that treats electronic communication and telehealth discussions about voluntary assisted dying as potential facilitation of suicide. This one-line fix would allow dying people — particularly those in regional and remote areas — to consult with VAD practitioners via telehealth rather than being required to travel repeatedly for in-person appointments. A central Queensland man died waiting for VAD access because of bureaucratic prescription mail rules. This is a discrete, fixable federal legislative problem. Contact your federal member or senator to call for the amendment.
ONGOING
The Rationalist Society of Australia is running a Change.org petition calling on the Australian War Memorial to take direct responsibility for the Anzac Day Dawn Service and end the imposition of Christian worship on a national commemoration. Read and sign the petition at change.org.
The Australia Institute are calling on federal parliament to pass truth in political advertising laws that are nationally consistent, constitutional and uphold freedom of speech. View the petition at The Australia Institute
The Human Rights Law Centre are running a website for those who want to support an Australian Charter of Human Rights & Freedoms. Visit the Charter of Rights website here
The Australian Education Union is running a campaign calling for “every school, every child” to receive fair education funding. Support the campaign here.
The Human Rights for NSW alliance is running a campaign calling for NSW to pass a Human Rights Act.
Our activities
NSL is involved in the joint 2026 Census - Not Religious? Mark 'No Religion' campaign aiming to improve the accuracy of census religion data. Visit the campaign website to learn more.
As always, the full videos of presentations and panel discussions from the 2023 Secularism Australia Conference (co-organised by NSL and other groups) are freely available for viewing on the Secularism Australia website and on YouTube!
More coming soon!
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