Bishop moves on from nobbling a hospital to hobbling transgender athletes who have an advantage when competing against women
Fresh from slowing down spending on a new hospital for Dunedin while speeding up a raft of projects in the name of economic growth, Chris Bishop today indicated he has been paying attention to female pleadings for a fair shake against transgender competitors.
As Minister for Sport and Recreation, Bishop foreshadowed his announcement a month ago when he said he was considering updating the guiding principles for transgender athletes participating in sports. At that time more than 50 Olympians and high-profile sports identities had signed a letter challenging the Government to ban male advantage from women’s sports.
The group, including gold medal winners Barbara Kendall and Joseph Sullivan, accused Sport New Zealand’s guidelines of disregarding the rights of female athletes. They argued the guidelines allow males who identify as female to compete in women’s sports without any explanation or transition. The signatories believe that accepting self-identification as the sole criterion for inclusion goes against scientific evidence and disrespects female athletes.
Today, Bishop announced he has asked Sport NZ to review and update its Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport (which were agreed and published on Labour’s watch).
One of those guiding principles states: –
Every New Zealander has the right to participate in Sport and to be treated with respect, empathy and positive regard. Transgender people can take part in sports in the gender they identify with.
Bishop’s media statement will be vying for media attention with the well-signallled announcement from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand that it has lopped the Official Cash by 50 basis points to to 4.75%, its lowest level in 18 months.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis was bound to say this is great news, but heresponse had not been posted at time of writing.
Bishops’s colleagues were busy with other issues, including –
The group, including gold medal winners Barbara Kendall and Joseph Sullivan, accused Sport New Zealand’s guidelines of disregarding the rights of female athletes. They argued the guidelines allow males who identify as female to compete in women’s sports without any explanation or transition. The signatories believe that accepting self-identification as the sole criterion for inclusion goes against scientific evidence and disrespects female athletes.
Today, Bishop announced he has asked Sport NZ to review and update its Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport (which were agreed and published on Labour’s watch).
One of those guiding principles states: –
Inclusion
Every New Zealander has the right to participate in Sport and to be treated with respect, empathy and positive regard. Transgender people can take part in sports in the gender they identify with.
Bishop’s media statement will be vying for media attention with the well-signallled announcement from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand that it has lopped the Official Cash by 50 basis points to to 4.75%, its lowest level in 18 months.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis was bound to say this is great news, but heresponse had not been posted at time of writing.
Bishops’s colleagues were busy with other issues, including –
- Pausing the rollout of freshwater farm plans while changes are made to ensure the system is affordable and more practical for farmers and growers.
- Braying about a report from the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) and Stats NZ which says overall air quality in New Zealand is improving (we should enjoy the experience of breathing in better air before pollutants are generated by fast-track projects).
- Naming New Zealand’s Climate Change Ambassador. The job has gone to Stuart Horne, the Divisional Manager of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Economic Division.
- Introducing a pilot to increase childhood immunisations, by training the Whānau Āwhina Plunket workforce as vaccinators in locations where vaccine coverage is particularly low.
- Strengthening requirements for building professionals, including improving consumer protection measures in the Building Act to provide the right support for consumers and introducing new penalties to deter bad behaviour.
- Temporarily extending the amount of time people can drive on overseas licences from 12 months to 18 months to reduce the wait times facing people trying to sit their driver licence test.
Latest from the Beehive
9 October 2024
Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop has asked Sport NZ to review and update its Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport.
The Coalition Government is restoring confidence to the rural sector by pausing the rollout of freshwater farm plans while changes are made to ensure the system is affordable and more practical for farmers and growers.
The latest report from the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) and Stats NZ, Our air 2024, reveals that overall air quality in New Zealand is improving, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Statistics Minister Andrew Bayly say.
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts has announced the appointment of Stuart Horne as New Zealand’s Climate Change Ambassador.
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti and Associate Health Minister Casey Costello have announced a pilot to increase childhood immunisations, by training the Whānau Āwhina Plunket workforce as vaccinators in locations where vaccine coverage is particularly low.
8 October 2024
The Government is looking at strengthening requirements for building professionals, including penalties, to ensure Kiwis have confidence in their biggest asset.
The Government is taking further action to tackle the unacceptable wait times facing people trying to sit their driver licence test by temporarily extending the amount of time people can drive on overseas licences from 12 months to 18 months.
In his press statement today, Chris Bishop says The Guiding Principles, published in 2022, were intended to be a helpful guide for sporting bodies grappling with a tricky issue.
“They are intended to be voluntary, not mandatory”.
Earlier this year – he recalled – he undertook to keep a watching brief over “this genuinely difficult issue”. He had met with a range of individuals and groups, and have sought advice from Sport NZ.
“The National-New Zealand First Coalition Agreement commits the Government to ensuring publicly funded sporting bodies support fair competition that is not compromised by rules relating to gender.
“It is important that transgender people feel able to participate in community sport – but there are obviously difficult issues for sporting bodies to grapple with around fairness and safety as a result of that participation.
“I have come to the view that the Guiding Principles do not reflect legitimate community expectations that sport at a community level should not just be focused on diversity, inclusion and equity – but also prioritise fairness and safety.”
Earlier this week he had written to Sport NZ Chief Executive Raelene Castle to ask her to review and update the Guiding Principles accordingly.
“I expect to receive an update from Sport NZ in the coming months.”
Today’s media statement follows Bishop’s being given a letter last month by former Olympic cyclist Gary Anderson, professional ironman athlete Candice Riley, and Save Women’s Sport Australasia co-founder Ro Edge.
Newstalk ZB reported:
“I think they make some fair points and we are considering updating the guidelines,” Bishop told the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning.
“The major point I think they make which I think has some merit to it is that the guidelines don’t say anything at the moment about fairness.
“It’s a document-based, all-around inclusion, and that’s really important because we want everyone, no matter their gender or how they identify to be able to participate in community sport – that is really important. We’ve also got to get the balance right between making sure that people feel like they can participate but also that there’s fairness in the sports and safety for people participating as well.
“I think the document could be updated to better reflect what I think the community expects from that so just having to think about that and once we’ve got a position on that, we’ll we’ll take it forward.”
In June, the Herald had revealed that following a comprehensive survey of 63 taxpayer-funded New Zealand national sports, 18 (29 per cent) of sporting codes have a transgender inclusion policy in place. Of those, 11 used Sport NZ’s guidance to develop their policy. Some 45 (71 per cent) organisations did not have a policy, but 21 of those were developing one.
At the recreational level, boxing and Triathlon NZ have open categories in which anyone, including transgender people, can participate.
Setting age and stage conditions for the inclusion of transgender people in the gender they identify with is another approach. NZ Rugby League has a policy that at age 13 and over participants must compete in the gender they are assigned at birth. Other sports such as netball require participants, at certain levels, to have either undertaken hormone therapy, testosterone levels below a stated level, or provide a document confirming their legal gender.
Bishop emphasised at the time he received the letter that the guidelines were simply that and weren’t mandatory.
“Some sports are doing this quite well and are grappling with it. Others are sort of yet to kind of turn their mind to it, particularly comprehensively, and the guidelines will help in doing that,” he told Hosking.
“They’re just, it’s meant to be just helpful guidance for sports to use as they navigate through this issue.”
Asked whether Sport NZ shared Bishop’s views, the minister told Hosking it was a government department that reported to him and was required to give effect to government policy – if he asks them to update the guidelines, they will have to.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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