10+ things that are more expensive than trans healthcare in the military, including doorknobs
(Photo: WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)
The Australian military has been criticised for spending $200,000 a year on trans healthcare.
Defence Minister Marise Payne defended gender reassignment surgery in the military against criticism.
Many critics claim that the spending is excessive and that covering gender reassignment surgery does not give value for money.
One Australian politician even went as far as to call the coverage “social engineering.”
The total annual cost of gender reassignment surgery in the Australian military is $200,000 (around £119,000.)
In 2015-18, the total military budget was $31.9 billion, meaning that 0.0004% of the military health budget was spent on healthcare for transgender soldiers, or 0.000006% of the total military budget.
Here are six things that the Australian Government has Actually spent excessive MONEY on
1. $5000 on an 80km helicopter journey
(Photo: JUAN MABROMATA/AFP/Getty Images)
For a ride that is shorter than a lot of people’s commutes, an Australian politician once chartered a private helicopter to the cost of $5000 to the taxpayer.
2. $800 on a doorknob
(Photo: Creative Commons)
As part of a $330,000 renovation of a media briefing room, a government body spent over $800 on a doorknob. Yes, one doorknob.
3. $500 million on electronic warfare
(Photo: ROB ENGELAAR/AFP/Getty Images)
The specifics of Australian military spending are rather secretive, but the especially shadowy spending on ‘electronic warfare’ is harder to justify than usual.
4. $850,000 for a study on an Italian noblewoman
(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
A government-funded study on Italian noblewoman Catherine de Medici, a queen of France in the 16th-century cost the taxpayer $850,784. We’re not sure why.
5. $53,000 on Luxury office chairs
Hopefully the chairs were fancier than this. (Photo: Creative Commons)
A renovation of the Clean Energy Regulator involved the eye-watering sum of $53,000 on office chairs. Presumably, the chairs were diamond-encrusted and cashmere.
6. $215,000 on a digital media study
(Photo:Creative Commons)
A government project to research the use of mobile phones, music and digital media cost the taxpayer the princely sum of $215,378. We don’t understand the point of it either.
These really the $200,000 yearly spend on often life-changing trans healthcare in perspective, don’t they.
And here are five things that cost the same amount as trans healthcare in the Australian military
You know, because context is important.
1. A used Lamborghini
(Photo by Romain Maurice/Getty Images for Haute Living)
For the same price as a year of gender reassignment surgery, you could also buy a used Lamborghini. Several used car outlets list second-hand versions of the famous sports car at around $200,000.
2. A jetpack (no seriously, a jetpack)
(Photo: chase_elliott/ Flickr)
Jetpack technology might only just be ‘getting off the ground’ but if you really want to feel the wind beneath your feet it is possible to buy a top of the range jetpack for around $200,000.
3. A three-bedroom house
(Photo: Creative Commons)
According to UK property site RightMove, it is possible to buy a three-bedroom house in the North of England for the same amount as trans healthcare in the Australian military.
4. Melania Trump’s wedding dress
(Photo: Creative Commons)
The marriage of President Donald Trump and Melania Knauss in 2005 was a grand affair, with the wedding dress of the now First Lady costing approximately $150,000.
5. research into how winemakers use the internet
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Yes, the Australian government once spent $191,394 on research into how the country’s many winemakers use the internet to promote their businesses.
Whilst these numbers may seem large on a personal level, $200,000 for trans healthcare is rather small both in the context of military spending and general government spending.
The Australian military has maintained the role of transgender people in the military.
Australia accepted its first openly non-binary cadet, who does not identify as male or female, as recently as September of this year.
This is a stark contrast to the infamous American ban on transgender soldiers, which is now facing its fourth lawsuit.
