One Nation Senator Says He's 'Two Minds' on Gay Equal Rights, Vows Abortion Ban Push

One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts told a conservative Christian conference in June 2026 that he was in "two minds" about whether gay people should have equal rights, footage released on August 23 has confirmed. Roberts, appearing alongside One Nation leader Pauline Hanson at the Church and State conference, also vowed to push for the party to adopt a blanket abortion ban and to formally declare that life begins at conception — a position that contradicts Hanson's own stance.

The footage, published on Sunday, captures Roberts responding to a question about James Ashby, One Nation's party director, who is gay. Roberts described Ashby as "bright, honest and straight," then added: "well, straight in one way." He went on to say of Ashby that "in this environment, James is not morally sound," while praising his "honesty, integrity and ability" (The Guardian).

Roberts told the forum he had not made up his mind on whether gay people should have equal rights. "I'm not homosexual and I can't understand it," he said. He acknowledged that prominent homosexuals had contributed to arts, sports, science, business and politics, and said: "I don't think we can afford to ban them." He referenced the late American bishop and gay rights advocate John Shelby Spong, citing Spong's view that after women and black people were no longer recognised as "inferior," gay people were next (The Guardian).

Anna Brown, chief executive of Equality Australia, called the remarks "genuinely shocking." She said it was chilling that a sitting senator would talk about "banning" people (The Guardian).

The conference itself provided a platform for broader conservative Christian sentiment. Dave Pellowe, the conference organiser, told the same forum that "loud, screaming activists" had held American medical health professions to ransom until they capitulated to delisting same-sex attraction as an illness (The Guardian).

Roberts's vow to pursue a blanket abortion ban within One Nation places him directly at odds with Hanson, who appeared at the same event. Roberts said he would push the party to claim that life begins at conception. The divergence between the two on abortion policy points to an internal fault line that could shape the party's platform heading into future electoral cycles, though neither Roberts nor Hanson has publicly addressed the disagreement beyond the conference remarks captured in the footage.

Hanson, for her part, used an Instagram post from the conference to signal discipline on immigration policy. She said she "had to have a conversation" with Farrer MP David Farley after he commented that the current immigration intake of 306,000 was "probably not" too much (The Guardian). The post signalled Hanson's efforts to enforce a harder line on migration within the party's orbit.

The broader context here is the accelerating interplay between minor-party politics and organised conservative Christian activism in Australia. The Church and State conference, which drew both Hanson and Roberts as speakers, functions as a node where religious conservative priorities — on sexuality, abortion, and gender — are translated into political talking points and, potentially, party policy. Roberts's willingness to state ambivalence about gay equal rights at such a venue, and to use the platform to signal a push on abortion, reflects a strategy of courting a constituency that has grown increasingly visible in Australian conservative politics since the 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite (a nationwide voluntary vote in which Australians supported legalising same-sex marriage).

For minor parties operating in Australia's preferential voting system — where voters rank candidates in order of preference and lower-ranked votes are redistributed until one candidate reaches a majority — the calculus is delicate. Positions that energise a conservative Christian base can alienate moderate voters whose preferences often determine electoral outcomes in marginal seats. Roberts's remarks, now public, give opponents and preference negotiators a concrete record to work with. The question of whether One Nation adopts his proposed abortion stance, and how the party manages the visible disagreement between its Senate leader and its founder, will be a test of Hanson's control over the party's direction.

The release of the footage in late August, roughly two months after the conference, means the comments are entering public circulation well after the event itself. This lag between private remarks to a sympathetic audience and subsequent public disclosure is a pattern familiar in Australian politics: recorded statements at closed or semi-closed forums frequently surface later, often timed for maximum political impact.