Save Women’s Sport Australasia congratulates New Zealand’s newly formed coalition Government for their commitment to safeguarding fairness for females in sport. With a pivotal focus on ensuring publicly funded sporting bodies support and prioritise fair competition for women and girls this ground breaking coalition agreement between New Zealand First and National has responded to the strong collective voice of New Zealanders.
The firm stance taken by the coalition government echoes the overwhelming sentiment expressed by voters across the nation: the unequivocal disapproval of males who identify as transgender competing in women’s sports, as confirmed by a recent Talbot Mills poll. New Zealanders love sport and they know that fairness, safety, and integrity in women’s sport is critical to increasing participation of girls and women in sport and the success of our female athletes. This progressive coalition agreement marks a significant milestone in making these values clear at the highest levels of government after being actively undermined by the previous Minister.
The current Sport NZ ‘Guiding principles for the inclusion of transgender people in community sport’ are inherently biased against women, unjust, ignore the overwhelming scientific evidence on male biological and physiological advantage, and are not consistent with longstanding provisions in the Human Rights Act that provide for sporting categories based on sex. We look forward to the guidelines being promptly replaced with directives that prioritize the fundamental values of integrity and fairness for women and girls’ sport whilst supporting males who identify as gender diverse to participate in other categories.
“While advocating for inclusivity in sport, it’s imperative to maintain fairness through appropriately categorized participation,” remarked Ro Edge, Spokeswoman for Save Women’s Sport Australasia. “Sex based sporting categories are the bedrock of inclusive participation. All individuals should have the opportunity to engage in sport, but this doesn’t translate to unrestricted participation in any chosen category.”
As an advocacy group Save Women’s Sport Australasia look forward to working with the government and sporting organisations on the changes to ensure principles of fairness and safety for females and upholding the integrity of the female category in New Zealand’s sporting landscape remain paramount.
