What One Nation Actually Said About Abortion
Mark Newman, who leads One Nation in NSW, says he got it wrong when he told an anti-abortion rally he wanted abortion to "stop". On Wednesday, 16 September 2026, he said the party only wants to stop some abortions. The Guardian
Newman spoke at the Tuesday night rally with campaigner Joanna Howe. The rally called on NSW parliament to restrict abortion access. He told the crowd: "We want to make sure that abortion rights ... we want to stop it." He also said: "We want to make sure that same-sex, sorry, abortion is stopped." He fixed the slip on the night. He said if elected, One Nation would back a "right to life ... that babies live".
On ABC Upper Hunter on Wednesday, he said he "made a mistake" in how he said it. He said "we do not want to stop abortion outright". He said the party wants to end "late-term and sex-selection abortion". That means abortions much later in pregnancy, and abortions because the baby is a boy or a girl. He said "reproductive rights are protected". He said "some people, for medical reasons, first trimesters and whatnot, should have a choice". The first trimester is the first three months.
One Nation's written policy says it is "pro-life", which means against abortion. It says the party "will seek every opportunity to roll back brutal and extreme abortion law". It gives no cut-off week. Federal leader Pauline Hanson has said she was not against first-trimester abortion. The Guardian In Macquarie Street, where NSW parliament sits, Libertarian upper house member John Ruddick put up a bill to make sex-selective abortions illegal. It was voted down on Wednesday night.
The broader context here is simple. Tuesday was black and white. Stop it. Wednesday was shades of grey. Stop some of it and keep choice for the rest. Newman says he just worded it badly. That happens.
For voters, it is like being told the speed limit will change but not what the new limit is. The party says it is pro-life and will roll back laws it calls brutal and extreme, while also backing reproductive rights and some early choice. With no week limit named, you are left with rally talk versus a radio fix. Neither is a draft law.
