Sport New Zealand is abandoning its guidelines outlining how transgender athletes can be included in community sport after the Government decided they don’t align with its coalition agreement.
It comes as New Zealand First leader Winston Peters threatens funding cuts for sporting codes that promote policies relating to gender which compromise fair competition.
In a statement released this morning, Sport NZ chief executive Raelene Castle said the Government had ordered the Crown entity to scrap the guidelines.
Sport NZ’s voluntary Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport, which didn’t apply to elite sport, were published in 2022 in an effort to provide clarity for New Zealand community sport organisations to develop policies on how to incorporate transgender athletes.
Its overarching principle said “transgender people can take part in sports in the gender they identify with”.
In 2023 coalition negotiations, National and NZ First agreed to ensure publicly funded sporting bodies supported fairness that wasn’t compromised by gender-based rules.
Last year, former Sports Minister Chris Bishop asked Sport NZ to review the guidelines. It’s understood Sport NZ completed the review recently and offered new draft guidelines for current Sports Minister Mark Mitchell to assess.
In a letter to Sport NZ on Tuesday, Mitchell said the policy in the coalition agreement meant Sport NZ should “no longer have guiding principles published and should leave that decision-making and judgment up to individual sports and community organisations”.
“The Government has a role in making sport accessible to all New Zealanders by creating opportunities, not in providing principles as to who should be included and how,” he said.
In her statement, Castle said the guiding principles had been removed from Sport NZ’s website and advised sporting organisations to “make their own decisions on the participation of transgender people in community sport”.
Castle declined to be interviewed.
In April last year, Sport NZ reported to the Government it had no evidence of a code-specific policy position or set of rules that prohibited fair competition.
However, anecdotal reports and specific cases had prompted public debate, such as weightlifter Laurel Hubbard and mountain biker Kate Weatherly, who had both competed against women.
Speaking to the Herald, Peters referenced both examples as he explained his party opposed inclusion being prioritised over fairness in sport.
“We faced all sorts of woke nonsense about how we couldn’t do this and it was unfair,” he said.
“The very point that we’re pushing is fairness.”
Peters then claimed he would seek to pull funding from codes that didn’t comply.
“We’re saying to the sports out there, ‘Well, if you want to ignore it, don’t expect public or taxpayer funding’.”
He affirmed his intention to cut all public funding for any sporting codes that didn’t align with the Government’s position. Peters also claimed Mitchell agreed with his position.
Peters’ threat would likely turn heads at New Zealand Cricket, given it allowed trans women to compete in female competitions at a community level.
New Zealand Rugby’s head of community rugby participation, Mike Hester, said its policy was still being developed, but the organisation believed “ideally allowing people to play in the gender with which they identify”.
Netball NZ required transgender women to provide documentation proving gender reassignment and hormone therapy before allowing them to play. Umpires had the discretion to assess whether a player’s actions aligned with safety expectations.
While Peters might want to cut funding, the relevant legislation might stop him.
The Sport and Recreation New Zealand Act 2002 said the minister – Mitchell – could not direct Sport NZ in relation to the allocation of funds.
The Government retained the ability to change legislation and determine the level of funding Sport NZ received.
In the event a sporting code didn’t align with the Government’s position, it’s understood Mitchell could reiterate his expectations to Sport NZ.
Labour Party rainbow issues spokesman Shanan Halbert said he supported the guidelines and believed sport in New Zealand should be “safe and inclusive for everyone”.
“All New Zealanders deserve the right to participate in community sport with empathy, dignity, and respect—no matter their gender identity.
“This Government is showing, once again, that it doesn’t care about minorities.”
Green Party takatāpui/rainbow communities spokesperson Benjamin Doyle said the guidelines provided tools for sports organisations to learn how to involve transgender athletes.
“These guidelines were just that – guidelines that could keep our communities safe, which no one was bound to adhere to – and now they’ve been scrapped.
“Minister Mark Mitchell said himself that there was nothing wrong with the guidelines. It is abundantly clear that this is a political move to appease coalition partners and appeal to some of the most hate-filled corners of our society.”
Adam Pearse is the deputy political editor and part of the NZ Herald’s press gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.