No unisex Xmas toys please - we're Aussies, says Tony Abbott

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says "Let boys be boys, let girls be girls" - and let toys reflect that. Photo / AP

Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott says boys should be boys and girls should be girls, in response to a campaign urging parents not to buy gender-specific toys this Christmas.

Greens Senator Larissa Waters is under fire for supporting the No December Gender campaign, aimed at breaking down stereotype buying of dolls for girls and trucks for boys.

Waters says the marketing of toys to boys and girls reinforced a "belief that men and women are somehow very different".

"We know that ultimately feeds into really serious problems like domestic violence," she said.

But Abbott dismissed her concerns as political correctness, and said parents should be allowed to do what is in the best interest of their children.

"Let boys be boys, let girls be girls," he said. "You wonder why the Parliament is difficult when you have people like that with the balance of power in the Senate."

Waters said the campaign was about letting children choose whatever toys they wanted to play with. "Let's let toys be toys and not limit children's imaginations."

Nationals MP Mark Coulton asked what else the Greens would think were inappropriate Christmas toys.

"Farm sets show the terrible oppression of farm animals and we all know they should be running free - except maybe in the alpine regions," he told reporters in Canberra.

Barbies were made from plastic extracted from petroleum and wrapping paper was made in the paper mills the Greens opposed. "If the Greens are against extractive industries, intensive agriculture and paper, it doesn't leave a lot for Christmas."

"Honestly, I'm glad there's a difference between boys and girls and I'm glad that's celebrated in the toy aisles of toy stores."

- AAP