Federal senator Sarah Henderson has called out the blatant misuse of power by the Victorian state Deputy Premier Ben Carroll. Concerned parents have been informing the community of plans to build unisex toilets without separate facilities for boys and girls at their local school. Carroll attempted to shut them down by issuing threats.

Senator Sarah Henderson stepped in, not only by posting about the issue on social media, but also attending and speaking at a rally organised by the pair.

Two mothers have been improperly intimidated and threatened with criminal prosecution for stalking by the Victorian Department of Education after they raised legitimate concerns about the construction of gender-neutral toilets at Clifton Springs Primary School near Geelong. 

Students at the rebuilt school no longer have separate boys and girls bathrooms which puts at risk their privacy and dignity, driven by Victorian Labor’s extreme-left ideology. 

Victorian education minister @BenCarrollMP must immediately withdraw these unfounded threats from his department, apologise to these parents, and reinstate separate boys and girls bathrooms at the school. 

In falsely claiming that distribution of a flyer about a rally tomorrow could result in criminal charges, the minister’s department is disgracefully trying to silence the many parents opposed to these facilities which undermine the fundamental rights of children. 

These two parents did not distribute the flyer at the school. One mother letterboxed it to some local residents and posted it online, while the other mother posted it only to her personal Facebook account. 

This blatant abuse of power by the minister’s department is untenable.

Henderson followed this up with another post declaring her support and calling for Carroll to cease with the threats and intimidation. 

Very pleased to support parents at a rally today calling for separate boys and girls bathroom facilities at Clifton Springs Primary School. 

Forcing boys and girls to share gender-neutral toilets at any school puts at risk students’ privacy and dignity. 

Not only is access to single-sex spaces such as bathrooms a fundamental right, 

@BenCarrollMP must immediately withdraw his department’s unfounded criminal threats against two mothers for simply promoting this rally, and apologise.

You can watch clips of the speeches here:

This is the rally that the Victorian Department of Education tried to shut down.

Students deserve to have their privacy and dignity protected. pic.twitter.com/sJQmXeZ3bC

— Senator Sarah Henderson (@SenSHenderson) November 13, 2023

One mother said, “There is no law against community events. There is also no law against asking the community to come together to tackle an issue that is affecting so many people. To be threatened with police action was distressing, embarrassing and plain wrong.”

Another parent spoke about being let down by the people in power. She vowed to not keep silent and said she “will keep fighting for the fundamental rights of our children, but for the future of everyone and the rights of all the members of the community,”