It is regrettable that within days of becoming Prime Minister, Scott Morrison has undermined one of the most vulnerable groups, Australia’s tens of thousands of transgender young people.

Surely a leader should speak out with conviction and insight to protect and promote people who continue to suffer prejudice that contributes to tragically high rates of mental ill-health, self-harm and death by suicide.

But the nation’s new leader responded to a disingenuous and erroneous report in a Sydney newspaper in a manner that may promote discrimination. The report, which has been comprehensively debunked, claimed teachers were being taught to identify transgender children, causing a jump in the number of children identifying as such.

Research has long established the need to better support the LGBTIQ community, particularly young people as they contemplate their sexuality and gender. A recent report by Telethon Kids Institute found as many as half of trans young people had attempted suicide and four out of five had self-harmed.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison: 'let kids be kids' Credit:AAP

Mr Morrison derided the specialist consultants invited to schools to support transgender kids and their families.

Using his Twitter account, he said: ‘‘We do not need ‘gender whisperers’ in our schools. Let kids be kids.’’

Speaking for many, 13-year-old Evie Macdonald, in a video message to the Prime Minister broadcast on national television, responded: ‘‘I’m a transgender kid … There are thousands of kids in Australia that are gender diverse. We don’t deserve to be disrespected like that through tweets from our Prime Minister… I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of attitudes like this. I went to a Christian school where I had to pretend to be a boy and spent weeks in conversion therapy. We get one childhood, and mine was stolen from me by attitudes like this.’’

Mr Morrison’s behaviour sits uncomfortably with his claim that his overarching priority is to unite people, to bring the nation together after an extraordinary bout of self-interested infighting in the Coalition government brought down yet another national leader.