Katherine Deves

Katherine Deves Morgan is an Australian lawyer who ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia at the 2022 Australian federal election.

Deves has been described as a "captain's pick" by then-prime minister Scott Morrison, for the once blue-ribbon seat of Warringah on Sydney's Northern Beaches. She has been criticised for her views and public statements about transgender people, and is a self-described TERF, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist.

Politics

Pre-2022 Before late 2020, there is minimal information about Deves' activities. Deves has said she became interested in gender identity and women's sport around 2015. In 2020, Deves stated that she had been “active in the debate online for a number of years”, In 2020, she created a Twitter account, and began to appear in the media, including in articles in conservative news outlets such as The Australian, and several appearances on Sky News Australia and podcasts. On September 21, 2021, Deves filed an application to join the Liberal Party, and in December, the application was accepted. Warringah had long been considered a safe Liberal seat, until independent candidate Zali Steggall beat former Prime Minister Tony Abbott at the 2019 election. she had gained traction among members of the centre-right faction as a "circuit breaker"

During the campaign, Deves made comments relating to transgender people, which caused significant controversy. Statements included the false claim that gender reassignment surgery was available to teenagers in Australia, and that anti-transgender activism was equivalent to "standing up against the Holocaust". Deves also stated that transgender children were "surgically mutilated and sterilised", which she initially apologised for, before withdrawing her apology. Deves was invited to the Sydney Jewish Museum, after her comment relating to the Holocaust. After her visit, Deves stated that "under no circumstances must ever be trivialised.” In a similar incident, Deves compared transgender children being removed from abusive parents to the Stolen Generations. Deves also routinely misgendered transgender athletes, such as Laurel Hubbard and Hannah Mouncey, and described the gay and lesbian movement as being "hijacked by gender activists". however, other anonymous Liberal Party members and Morrison backed her. Kean also stated that he does "not believe she’s fit for office." On 22 April 2022, Deves held a campaign event in a Sydney pub, where media were informed that they were banned from entering. In April 2022, Deves stated that she had reported death threats made against her to the police, but New South Wales Police stated they had not received a report of any threats.

In the leadup to the election, Deves received significant media attention due to her controversial comments. In an eleven day timeframe in the lead up to the election, she received more mentions across news publications than any Liberal frontbencher except for Morrison himself, being mentioned over 1,100 times.

After the election, she objected to criticism that she was homophobic, stating on Sky News Australia, "Of all of the untruths and distortions attributed to me in my public life there is one lie that hurts more than any other, and that is the completely groundless accusation that I am homophobic." She also criticised Liberal Party members that had objected to her anti-trans comments, including Kean and senators Simon Birmingham and Andrew Bragg, claiming their criticism of her hurt her chances of winning Warringah.

Post-2022 On 17 April 2023, Deves announced that she would be nominating to fill the Senate vacancy left by Jim Molan. If successful, she stated that she would oppose the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Deves pulled out of the contest on 23 April, to focus on her legal defence for women-only social media platform Giggle for Girls founded by Sall Grover. In December 2022, Giggle was being sued by a transgender woman, Roxanne Tickle, after she was classified as a man and banned from the app. In June 2023, an application made by Deves to dismiss the case was rejected. In the same month, Deves spoke at an anti-transgender event at Parliament House, Sydney, which included Victorian MLC Moira Deeming, and New South Wales MLCs John Ruddick, Tania Mihailuk, and Greg Donnelly.

In August 2023, Deves confirmed she was considering running for Warringah again at the 2025 Australian federal election. However the preselection ultimately went to Jaimee Rogers.

In August 2024, Tickle v Giggle concluded, with the federal court ruling against Grover, ordering her to pay damages to Roxanne Tickle. The judgment also stated that Grover's legal case, which Deves had contributed to, had been presented in a "disjointed and somewhat incoherent way".

Other political views Deves is a monarchist. The Australian Monarchist League received controversy when it announced Deves would be speaking at their annual conference. When preselected for Warringah in 2022, she said she would focus on local issues, particularly cost of living and small businesses. Deves opposed "draconian" Deves has contributed to Sky News Australia and The Spectator.