Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended his hand-picked candidate for Warringah after she reasserted that transgender people were "mutilated" by medically transitioning.
Mr Morrison again refused to criticise Katherine Deves, saying the issue she was raising was "concerning" and "troubling".
"What we're talking about here is gender reversal surgery for young adolescents... we can't pretend this type of surgery is a minor procedure," Mr Morrison said.
But rights groups told the ABC Mr Morrison's comments were "categorically incorrect" — transgender Australians are generally not eligible for surgery to change their physical sex characteristics until they turn 18 years old.
Ms Deves had previously apologised for comments she made about transgender people in now-deleted social media posts, acknowledging they were unacceptable and had hurt people.
Mr Morrison said she had been right to apologise.
But yesterday, the Warringah candidate walked back her apology while speaking to Sky News outside a north Sydney voting booth.
Ms Deves told Sky News she still believed trans children were "surgically mutilated and sterilised", claiming that was accurate medical terminology, though she apologised for hurting people's feelings.
"It's very emotive, and it's very confronting, and it's very ugly, so of course, people are going to be offended, but when you look at medical negligence cases, that is the terminology that they use," Ms Deves 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.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said her comments were not appropriate.
"Vulnerable people — every human being, deserves respect. What we need to look for from our national political leaders is ways to unify people, not play politics in order to divide people," Mr Albanese said.
Rights groups say Morrison's comments are 'misinformation'
Jeremy Wiggins, who heads trans support network Transcend Australia, said gender affirmation procedures were only available to people under 18 in rare circumstances.
"The Prime Minister’s remarks were categorically incorrect," Mr Wiggins said.
"The decision to undergo surgical affirmation is highly considered, involving detailed multidisciplinary clinical assessments and gaining access to the surgical procedure of any kind involves a rigorous long term assessment.
"It's actually concerning that he would use his platform to ignore the evidence and spread misinformation in such an insensitive way that will no doubt cause great harm to an already highly persecuted and marginalised group of young people."
Dr Clara Tuck Meng Soo, a Canberra GP who specialises in LGBTQ health, said adolescents undergoing gender affirmation surgery was very rare because the process itself takes "years".
"The vast majority of people actually have a period of hormonal treatment before they have surgery," Dr Soo said.
"In order to actually get access to hormonal treatment for anyone under 18, they are going to have to see a medical practitioner and most of the time they are also going to be assessed by a specialist as well as two trained mental health professionals before they actually access any medical treatment.
"[And] they're likely to have to go through that whole process again in order to get access to surgery."
Dr Soo also noted that even hormonal treatment does not begin before puberty.
Mr Wiggins, who also co-chairs the Victorian government’s Trans and Gender Diverse Expert Advisory Group, accused Mr Morrison of using marginalised young people in "an attempt to win votes".
"The real key issues impacting trans young people and their families are actually the lack of appropriately funded health and support services, and the high rates of harassment and abuse, which are actually driving poor mental health rates for our community, resulting in higher rates of self-harm and suicidality," Mr Wiggins said.
"There is evidence that suggests that when younger trans people are able to access gender-affirming health care, their later life mental health experiences improved significantly."
Deves says party told her to stick to local issues
Ms Deves's remarks on transgender people have prompted calls from within the Liberal party for her to be disendorsed as a candidate, but Mr Morrison said he would not "silence" her.
She told Sky News the party had since advised her to stick to local media and local issues.
Ms Deves said she would continue to advocate on the issue.
"Obviously I have rose to prominence in the national press, but they want me to concentrate on Warringah and concentrate on local media and local issues," Ms Deves said.
"The quiet Australians are behind me on that particular issue."
Dr Soo said politicians were harming a highly vulnerable community who already suffered higher rates of stress and poor mental health.
"What's really reprehensible is that once again trans children are being used as a political football. Having issues canvassed in such a way and in such pejorative terms is actually harmful to a lot of them," Dr Soo said.
"There is more and more evidence accumulating that if children and adolescents are given affirmative care, that actually makes a big difference to their mental health.
"That's really what we should be looking for — what works best for people, rather than just hurling opinions."
