The Newcastle Herald has apologised for running a transphobic ad from the Clive Palmer Trumpet of Patriots party on the front page, after significant backlash from editorial staff and human rights groups.
The ad, published on Tuesday, was explicitly transphobic, reading: “We must stop confusing children in schools. Give them a safe and normal environment to grow and develop in and let them decide who they are when they become adults.”
The same ad ran across other papers, including The Australian and The Age.
“The ads were designed to do nothing more than stoke division and provoke outrage “from a fringe political actor desperately looking for attention”, Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown told the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday.
“They do nothing to inform debate or promote any understanding of what are complex issues that affect the most vulnerable people in our community.”
The publisher of the Newcastle Herald, Australian Community Media, has also removed the ad from digital publication and issued an apology to readers, saying that the ad did not align with its company values.
“ACM and the Herald apologise unreservedly to our readers, the transgender community and to the Newcastle community more broadly for any hurt and distress caused by the publication of the advertisement,” the statement read.
“We support freedom of speech and a diversity of views, but on this occasion we let our readers and our staff down.”
Nine entertainment defends decision to run ad
Nine entertainment, which publishes The Age, stood by their decision, writing a letter to staff on Wednesday, arguing that rejecting a political advertisement could lead to allegations that the newspaper endorsed what it published.
“It is abundantly clear in any political ad that it is authorised by a representative of a political party registered with the AEC and is not reflective of any editorial position,” the letter said.
“If we were to start picking and choosing which platforms of a registered political party were acceptable, that could imply endorsement of any political ads we did choose to run, and would insert our organisation into the political debate as a participant rather than observer.”
Editorial staff opposed the ad, running a story above it calling Palmer a “persistent wart on the foot of Australian politics”, but readers say the gesture rang hollow when the paper was willing to accept his money in the first place.
Appalling that the Age is giving oxygen to this transphobic advertising from Clive Palmer.
What a disgraceful message to send your trans employees. #auspol pic.twitter.com/uh1BCdMT2b
— Rob Baillieu (@rebaillieu) March 11, 2025
The Trumpet of Patriots also ran banners across the front pages of the Australian, Daily Telegraph, and several papers from Western Australia on Monday, one reading: “We don’t need to be welcomed to our own country,” while the other said: “Too much immigration destroys infrastructure.”
It’s the start of what will surely become a common, exhausting sight, as Palmer begins his advertising blitz for the upcoming federal election.
The billionaire has already pledged to spend more than the $100 million spent by his previous political party in the 2022 federal election, seemingly taking a very Trump-ian approach to advertising.
The Republican Party reportedly spent more than $65 million on televised ads attacking trans people during Trump’s election campaign.