For the purposes of this week, Andrew Hastie is an honorary woman. I am completely sure he will be delighted to be living his truth. More on this in a minute, while I thank four cis women Tanya Plibersek, Clare O'Neil, Anne Ruston and Jane Hume for their work in standing up to the divisive hot mess of One Nation and its leader Pauline Hanson.
A week ago, Hanson delivered her first National Press Club of Australia speech. Moderated by someone who couldn't moderate (sorry Tom Connell, you seem like a nice young man but I don't think you did a good job on that day), she was allowed extra time to be her virulent self - and not nearly enough time to be interrogated.
Since then, there's been handwringing and column inches about the amount of hatred Hanson spewed. But four women politicians have stood up and spoken out. Three of them are mothers of three. My god. Before you chastise me for pointing out O'Neil's maternity, let me tell you to get stuffed. There are people who can't manage one lot of responsibility. Managing three kids and the insanity of political life in this country is impressive.
Let me begin with Clare O'Neil, mother of three and Minister for Housing and Homelessness, who lashed Hanson earlier this week.
She said: "I am so sick of watching the Liberals and the Nationals get eaten alive by One Nation and they are inert, they are cowardly, they are frozen. When are they going to stand up and fight against the absolutely outrageous nonsense that One Nation are spreading right around this country? You know, Pauline Hanson says there are no good Muslims in Australia. Why can't Angus Taylor stand up and call that racism? Because that is what it is."
All good comments and excellent questions. Now O'Neil has the kind of background Hanson thinks is AOK (her mum Anne O'Donovan is a publishing legend same as her dad Lloyd O'Neil who died 30 years ago). But she's standing up for the rest of us who are at least a bit woggy.
Then Tanya Plibersek, mother of three and Minister for Social Services, spoke out about Hanson's ludicrous attacks on parental leave.
"But Senator Hanson is wrong, small business don't need to force their workers to choose between career and family. Paid parental leave is taxpayer funded for all eligible families, whether they are self-employed, work for a small business or the biggest companies."
I mean, it's dead clear that Pauline Hanson opposes workers' rights (and good on GetUp for making trouble during the speech). And as the ACTU's Sally McManus points out, Hanson has voted against workers time and time and time again. I'd completely forgotten Hanson supported wage theft!
Next mother of three? Let me introduce you to Jane Hume, Deputy Opposition Leader (or is that Barnaby Joyce these days?).
She said: "I can't believe that we've managed to get ourselves into this. I'm sorry, I reject the politics of identity of the left on multiculturalism, but my goodness, I also reject the policy of cultural fear from the right. We are a multicultural society," she said.
Anne Ruston, mother of one and shadow minister for health and aged care, told Sally Sara on Radio National: "I do support multiculturalism. This country was built on multiculturalism ... I think Angus and I and the rest of the team in the Coalition are absolutely as one when we say that we want a future for Australia that is built on respecting our values and our way of life. And I think we are absolutely all on a unity ticket when it comes to what we see the future of Australia is, and the future of Australia is one that's based on multiculturalism."
Unity ticket? My god. Angus Taylor gagged on the word multiculturalism as if he'd just choked on a bit of gristle at a sausage sizzle. Could not bring himself to spell it out.
But yes, yes, we are built on multiculturalism in this country from the minute the British colonised multiple nations and then sent its convicts here.
Yes. We. Are. And that includes our lovely Socceroos.
I asked Kerrie Anne Christian, acting president of the Fellowship of First Fleeters (FFF), if she thought Australia was built on a monoculture.
"Hardly. Many came from a range of other countries besides Britain," she told me. Convicts. Marines. Sailors.
Turns out one in six were not English. Africans. Some from the Caribbean. And the descendants of the First Fleet are definitely not monocultural either. Christian's niece and nephew have a dad who is 100 per cent Chinese.
"Many nationalities are represented in the descendants," says Christian, who explains the FFF is apolitical. "That includes First Nations people."
So, there's that. There's also Andrew Hastie who I'd previously written off for his ridiculous views on climate. He too stood up against Hanson: "Pauline Hanson's problem is that she is MAGA first, even when the Australian people suffer the economic consequences." Turns out that Hastie also has three kids and, for today, is an honorary woman for which I'm grateful.
A bunch of people have stood up against the complete and utter foolishness of One Nation, against the greed and meanness, against the complete lack of generosity. But this column is devoted to a few of them who have been long and loud.
Will it help to call One Nation racist? Probably not. It is racist though so important to stick to the facts. And the facts are that we were always multicultural. Always was. Always will be.