Mike Newman, leader of One Nation in New South Wales, has clarified his party’s position on abortion following remarks he made at an anti-abortion rally that stirred controversy. At the event on Tuesday night, Newman expressed a desire to “stop” abortions, comments he later described as a mistake and said did not fully reflect One Nation’s stance.
Newman told reporters on Wednesday that while the party’s formal policy is “pro life” and committed to rolling back “brutal and extreme abortion law,” it does not call for a total ban on abortion. Instead, the party opposes late-term and sex-selective abortions specifically. He emphasized that One Nation supports protecting reproductive rights for those seeking medical terminations, particularly in the first trimester.
“I own that 100%. We do not want to stop abortion outright,” Newman said in an interview with ABC Upper Hunter. “What we’re talking about is late-term and sex-selection abortion, which we want to put an end to.” He added that some medical situations justify early-term abortions and expressed discomfort with claims related to babies being born alive during abortion procedures, a notion experts have debunked as misinformation.
Newman’s comments come amid ongoing political debate in New South Wales, where the state parliament recently rejected a bill introduced by Libertarian upper house member John Ruddick that sought to criminalize sex-selective abortions. The bill, voted down on Wednesday night, faced criticism from the state’s health minister, Ryan Park, who stated there is no evidence such practices are occurring in NSW. Medical professionals have warned that measures targeting sex-selective abortion could be part of broader efforts to restrict abortion access in the state, where abortion itself is decriminalized and already subject to professional regulations.
The anti-abortion rally attended by Newman also featured Joanna Howe, a controversial campaigner who has called for ending abortion entirely and prosecuting anyone involved in the procedure on murder charges. Howe has faced accusations of spreading misinformation about abortion and engaging in bullying of NSW politicians. Newman acknowledged that Howe informed him about sex-selective abortions taking place but said he had no reason to doubt her claims, despite a lack of published evidence supporting widespread occurrence.
The One Nation position appears to diverge somewhat from that of the party’s federal leader, Pauline Hanson, who has publicly stated she is not opposed to abortion during the first trimester, though this nuance is absent from the official party platform.
The debate around abortion in NSW remains highly contentious, encompassing questions over the regulation of late-term terminations, sex-selection, and broader reproductive rights. Newman’s remarks and subsequent clarifications underscore the delicate balance parties seek amid shifting public and political attitudes toward abortion legislation in Australia.