There are growing calls to ban a controversial British activist from coming to Australia to speak at a conservative conference.
Transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull made headlines in March 2023 when she led the Let Women Speak rally in Melbourne.
A group of men dressed in black stormed the event and gave the Nazi salute from the steps of Victoria’s state parliament.
A petition calling Keen-Minshull an “anti-trans activist” and calling for her to be banned from returning to Australia had gathered more than 3,000 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon.
“Last year, despite massive public outcry, anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (aka Posie Parker) was allowed into the country to host a nationwide tour advocating for the human rights of the trans and gender diverse community,” the petition reads.
‘It has just been announced that he plans to return to Australia to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Brisbane on 5 and 6 October.
We know that if he is allowed to come here once again, he will use this as an opportunity to project his hateful, exclusionary and disgusting views.
Last May, Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto settled defamation cases brought by Keen-Minshull and Australian Angie Jones over comments he made about them during last year’s rally.
There are growing calls to ban controversial British activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (pictured) from coming to Australia to speak at a conservative conference.
In a “full and magnanimous” apology, Mr Pesutto said he “never believed nor intended to claim that Kellie-Jay Keen and Angela Jones were neo-Nazis”.
‘I agree with them that genuine community concerns regarding women’s safety and their access to women-only spaces, services and sports warrant meaningful public debate.
“My comments may have been misinterpreted… I apologize for any hurt, distress or harm that may have occurred,” he said.
Ms Keen-Minshull accepted his apology in a statement posted on YouTube at the time.
But Mr Pesutto is currently fighting another case related to the Let Women Speak demonstration.
Victorian state MP Moira Deeming is suing him over comments he made about her attendance at the rally.
The former Liberal MP and now independent alleges that Pesutto falsely portrayed her as a Nazi sympathiser after she spoke at the meeting on 18 March 2023.
Mr Pesutto’s barrister, Dr Matthew Collins KC, asked Ms Deeming whether comments made at the rally by Ms Keen-Minshull “about how women can’t have penises” were provocative and controversial.
“It’s absolutely undisputed that those things were said at the Let Women Speak demonstration. That’s literally what we all came here to say,” Deeming responded.
He was also asked about possible links between the demonstration and neo-Nazi groups.
Ms Deeming said comments from keyboard warriors labelling her a Nazi or fascist failed to deter her from attending the women’s rights rally.
She said she viewed the disparaging comments as attempts to provoke her rather than genuine concerns about her association with rally-goers.
The court was shown footage of the demonstration, which showed a row of men dressed in black repeatedly giving the Nazi salute, and numerous tweets about the event.
A petition has branded Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (pictured) an “anti-trans activist”
Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell is seen as supporters of Nazi and transgender rights clash at a rally in Melbourne, Saturday, March 18, 2023.
Ms Deeming said she had “never seen such images” of the Nazi salutes and questioned why police had not arrested the group.
The petition regarding Ms Keen-Minshull called on Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to “use his powers under the Migration Act to deny her entry into Australia”.
“We know we can do it because in 2019 the government denied entry to far-right ideologue Milo Yiannopoulos on character grounds,” it read.
“If we can make enough noise, we can force the government to act again.”