Western Australia MP Peter Abetz said a trans girl should not have been allowed to compete in a girl’s cross country event.

The 8 year old transgender girl ran in competition at her primary school in Perth, alongside other girls her age. She placed fifth, and qualified for the local inter-schools event.

Christian pastor and Liberal Party politician Peter Abetz said it was unfair for a trans girl to compete in a girls event.

Mr Abetz told Perth Now: “I think what the school could have done is gone to the parents and say, ‘We appreciate that you have the view that your son identifies as a girl, but from a practical perspective this is going to create a lot of difficulties at the school and if he doesn’t want to run the cross country as a boy he can stay on the sidelines’.”