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The South Australian Parliament is set to debate a private members bill that — if passed — will allow a biological man who identifies as a woman to record himself as the “mother” on the child’s birth certificate.

Like me, you’ve had a gutful of ideology overriding common sense in this country.

Especially when it comes to sex. Or gender. Or whatever word we’re allowed to use this week for the fairly straightforward question of what a male is and what a female is.

But if you’re exhausted by it, don’t expect relief from the political class just yet.

The South Australian Parliament is set to debate a private members bill that — if passed — will allow trans-identifying parents to alter the parental designation on a child’s birth certificate.

In plain English: a biological man who identifies as a woman would be able to record himself as the “mother” of his child on that child’s birth certificate.

And a biological woman who identifies as a man could be recorded as the “father”.

Greens and Labor Pass Birth Certificate Changes

The Bill, introduced by Greens MLC Rob Simms, has already passed South Australia’s Legislative Council… with support from Labor. It received virtually no media attention.

Naturally, it was all done in the name of inclusivity…

And perhaps it was.

The trouble with making inclusivity your highest governing principle is that, eventually, language stops describing anything at all.

Simple example…

If you say that circles and triangles can be recognised as squares, the term square ceases to have any meaning.

In the same way, if the South Australian Parliament decides to let any old man — identifying as a woman — be recorded as “mother”, the term mother ceases to have any meaning.

Which is fine… except  birth certificate isn’t a choose your own adventure book.

As the Australian Christian Lobby’s South Australian director Ashlyn Vice pointed out to me this week…

“A birth certificate is a legal record that documents the biological realities surrounding a child’s birth and parentage.”

Indeed.

A birth certificate is supposed to document the child’s birth, not the parent’s state of mind at the time of birth.

Every child has a mother and a father.

I can’t believe the South Australian Parliament need this explained to them.

And the purpose of a birth certificate is to accurately record who provided sperm and who provided egg.

A Child’s Birth Certificate… Is about the Child

You know what’s crazy?

If Anthony Albanese is watching me right now, he’ll accuse me of waging a culture war for having said what I’ve just said.

I get that a father who identifies as a woman wants to be known as mum, rather than dad.

But the birth certificate isn’t actually about him. It’s about the child.

The birth certificate is also about truth. Objective fact.

If we change that, then we change the nature of birth certificates. They cease to be important documents and instead become… commemorate certificates.

Issued not to note the birth of a child, but to note the orientation of an adult for whom the newborn serves as a prop.

The South Australian Liberals have said they’ll vote against the legislation.

As they ought.

Labor won’t vote for it. Will they?

Then again, this is a political party whose federal colleagues describe a broken promise as a change of position.

So they quite like turning ordinary words into plasticine when it suits.

We’ll see how they vote this week.

Appendix: SA Legislative Chamber (Upper House) Voting Record

Voting on the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration (Birth Certificates) Amendment Bill, 3 June 2026

Voted For the Bill (11)

Voted against the Bill (10)

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Republished with thanks to The James Macpherson Report.

Image via Rob Simms/Instagram.