Earlier this month, One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce addressed a rally on the steps of New South Wales parliament. In emotive terms, he praised an anti-abortion bill about sex-selective abortion, legislation opposed by health experts.
Joyce’s speech is notable as a cut and paste of US culture war strategies, and for what it reveals about One Nation’s evolving, populist far-right agenda.
Read more:
How common is sex-selective abortion in Australia, really?
An unlikely anti-abortion hero
Senator Pauline Hanson, One Nation’s founder and leader, is an unlikely anti-abortion hero. In the 1990s she insisted, “It is every woman’s right to determine her own body”.
In 2018, Hanson does not appear to have commented when Queensland decriminalised abortion. In 2025, she indicated she has no issue with first trimester abortion.
In 2020, One Nation debuted a “pro-life policy” that relies on a range of claims that originated in the US. These include misinformation about abortions later in pregnancy and broader health care.
However, abortion is still a conscience vote within the party.
Senator Malcolm Roberts has been relatively quiet about his opposition to abortion. But One Nation’s most high profile new recruits – Joyce, Cory Bernardi in South Australia and Bernie Finn in Victoria – have previously made controversial anti-abortion statements.
This rhetoric doesn’t appear to be in response to voter demand. One Nation voters, like most Australians, are broadly pro-choice. In 2026, 50% of One Nation voters supported abortion access, while a further 34% supported abortion in limited circumstances.
MAGA, down under
One Nation is explicit in comparing Hanson and US President Donald Trump, promising that if you “want Trump’s action and style, then it’s One Nation you need”.
One Nation even sells its own iteration of a MAGA cap, blue with the slogan “MAGA – Make Albo Go Away”.
Hanson and One Nation routinely deploy Trump’s tactics and rhetoric. This includes calling for “mass deportations”, campaigning against “radical gender ideology”, railing against “critical race theory” and dismissing opponents as “woke”.
Yet opposition to abortion has not traditionally been on One Nation’s public agenda. Some of its parliamentarians have adopted the messaging at the same time as the party deepens ties with the MAGA movement.
In late 2025, Hanson travelled on billionaire Gina Rinehart’s private jet to speak at the US Conservative Political Action Conference, held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. She and Rinehart then attended Trump’s lavish Roaring Twenties-themed Halloween party.
Mutual opportunism
Hanson soft launched her interest in abortion politics through the anti-abortion influencer Joanna Howe, an academic whose expertise is in labour migration law.
United by a shared understanding of the power of social media and Trumpian tactics, Hanson and Howe appear to have a mutually opportunistic relationship. Each gains exposure to new, highly motivated audiences and reaps direct political benefit.
Howe has been involved in almost every anti-abortion bill introduced in Australia since 2022. She has a significant online follower count, spends extraordinary sums on social media advertising, and is part of Australia’s right-wing podcasting ecosystem.
Howe believes that “abortion is murder and everyone involved should face criminal penalties for that murder”.
Read more:
Hate over love: conservative influencers have brought angrier anti-abortion politics to Australia
However, she also champions the strategy of “incrementalism”.
Originating in the US, anti-abortion incrementalism chips away at abortion rights and access through constant legislative attacks while amplifying stigmatising rhetoric and pseudo-scientific claims.
In August 2025, Hanson filmed a convivial podcast interview at Howe’s home. The day after the episode released, Hanson asked a Senate question, echoing some of Howe’s talking points.
Hansard reveals no other instance of Hanson discussing abortion in parliament.
In 2026, Hanson has appeared twice more on Howe’s podcast, while Howe uses her platform to politically champion One Nation.
In the SA election, Howe registered her company as a “third party”, allowing her to spend more than A$10,000 on political messaging. She advised voters to put One Nation first.
During the Farrer byelection, Howe held a candidate’s forum on abortion, praising David Farley for his “courageous” statement.
Joyce’s recent speech was the headline event at Howe’s Sydney rally. She warned the NSW Nationals that unless they support the sex-selection bill, One Nation would take their seats in the state election.
Incremental damage
Only 8% of Australians oppose access to abortion.
While the Religious Right is a key bloc for the US Republican Party, Australian compulsory voting means there is no need to mobilise a “base” to turn out.
Even conservative Australian politicians tend to view opposition to abortion as electorally fraught.
In late 2024, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton reprimanded federal Liberal National Party members for making anti-abortion comments, citing the backlash during the Queensland election.
So One Nation’s embrace of this aspect of the US culture wars could well backfire. However, I predict significant consequences for Australia’s abortion politics.
In SA, an anti-abortion bill was introduced shortly after the election, the third in two years. With three One Nation upper house members, the bill will likely pass in that chamber, although it is expected to be defeated if it comes to the lower house.
For opponents of abortion, passing the upper house will be their first form of “proof” that incrementalism can work in Australia, even if it ultimately doesn’t become law.
We are also already witnessing the enmeshment of anti-abortionists with broader far right movements. At Howe’s Sydney rally, Scott Challen, an organiser of the March for Australia rallies, lamented the national abortion rate while “Australia imports the third world en masse”.
Lastly, One Nation offers opponents of abortion a large new platform, working to normalise and amplify their arguments and bringing them closer to the mainstream.
Given the current Liberal and National struggles for identity, and the vocal opponents of abortion in each party, this will likely have significant ramifications.
