Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s handpicked candidate for the seat of Warringah, Katherine Deves, has defended her decision to describe transgender children as "surgically mutilated and sterilised", despite earlier .
Ms Deves has been plagued by controversy since announcing her candidacy for the Sydney seat due to her now-deleted social media posts in which she used the description of transgender children.
Once the posts were unearthed, she apologised.
But on Monday, Ms Deves appeared to reverse her position in an interview with Sky News, arguing that the description was accurate.
"When you look at medical negligence cases, that is the terminology that they use. It is also contained in the Crimes Act of NSW," she said.
"I'm apologising for how people might have perceived it and the fact that it is confronting and it is ugly, and I certainly don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but that is the correct terminology."
Ahead of the Liberal candidate's comments on Monday, , arguing she had "withdrawn and apologised" for the comments and recognised they were "insensitive".
SBS is seeking fresh comment from the prime minister’s office.
"I recognise that trying to prosecute arguments on complex, difficult and nuanced subjects should not take place on a platform that propagates offence and division and hurt. And going forward, I will be conducting myself within a dignified and respectful fashion," she said at the time.
"As a mother and a woman, I recognise that the way I prosecuted those arguments was not conducive to proper, reasonable debate."
LGBTIQ+ groups have said the debate around transgender issues in the election campaign has further contributed to stigma against the community.
More than 40 gender equity and women's safety organisations issued a statement last Friday,
Louise Simms, executive director at Safe and Equal Victoria, said the debate is exacerbating transphobic behaviour.
"People are becoming bolder in their expressions of these attitudes and I think having it play out publicly is giving people in communities some more confidence to express these attitudes," she told SBS News.
Jenny Shoring, operations manager at A Gender Agenda and trans woman, said it is also increasing the burden on support centres.
"There's, you know, community groups that are now under increased pressure from increased phone calls, increased needs for support," she told SBS News.
LGBTIQ+ Australians seeking support with mental health can contact QLife on 1800 184 527 or visit qlife.org.au. ReachOut.com also has a list of support services.
Intersex Australians seeking support can visit Intersex Peer Support Australia at isupport.org.au.
Additional reporting by Krishani Dhanji
