Riding high on One Nation’s popularity in the polls, Barnaby Joyce has fronted an anti-abortion rally with a warning to politicians from mainstream parties.
He argued his pro-life stance was one of conviction rather than of political opportunism, drawing massive cheers from a crowd of about 2,000 people outside the New South Wales (NSW) Parliament on a chilly Sydney evening.
“Politically, does this make you popular? No, you'd probably lose half your votes every time you do it. But you know why you do it because that’s the right thing to do,” he said.
Joyce, who left the Nationals in late 2025, argued that galvanising support around the pro-life cause could change the political landscape.
One Nation has leapfrogged Labor to become the political party with the highest primary vote, according to the latest Redbridge poll.
“I don’t know much about a lot, but I know a lot about politics and the one thing politicians fear is losing their job. They’re very mindful of that,” Joyce said.
“You must keep that fire burning for those people who can’t stand up for themselves and I call them people—they’re not fetuses.”
Debate in Queensland Heats Up Again
Earlier on Tuesday, nurses and midwives descended on state parliament in Brisbane in a showdown over an abortion pill as conservative MP Robbie Katter reopened debate over the controversial topic.He caused a stir after indicating he would move to block a health system change that would allow nurses and midwives to administer abortion medication like MS-2 Step.
Queensland Liberal National Party (LNP) Premier David Crisafulli has put a gag on abortion debate at state parliament after termination of pregnancy laws became a major 2024 election issue.
However, Katter’s disallowance motion does not mention abortion, instead targets updates to Queensland’s Medicines and Poisons framework that allow more nurses and midwives to prescribe medications like the MS-2 Step early-termination pill.
“MS-2 Step is not a drug for the common cold, or even antibiotics—it’s a drug that kills defenceless, unborn children,” Katter said in a statement.
Nurses and midwives joined abortion supporters on Tuesday accusing him of trying to strip women of practical access to care.
The nurses union’s Assistant Secretary of Midwifery Fridae King said reproductive health was “a right, not a privilege,” saying some women had to travel 300 kilometres for procedures.
‘‘To those politicians who object, I say, ’Hands Off Our Healthcare.‘ Women’s health is not a bargaining chip, it is a fundamental right,’' she said.
The disallowance motion comes just months after LNP MP Nigel Dalton crossed the floor to vote with Katter in a bid to overturn the premier’s abortion law debate gag.
Health Minister Tim Nicholls on Tuesday insisted the LNP government would not change Queensland’s termination of pregnancy laws.
He accused the Labor opposition of using the Katter’s Australian Party motion to launch a scare campaign over potential abortion changes under the LNP.
The state opposition said the abortion issue had driven a wedge through the LNP government “as much as the premier wants it to go away.”
