Barnaby Joyce has conceded that opposition to abortion does not represent the "majority view" in Australia after he was seen at an anti-abortion rally in Sydney. The One Nation MP for New England attended the Sydney Life Rally in support of a private member's bill set to be debated in the state parliament on Wednesday, which aims to prohibit abortions conducted for the purpose of sex selection.
The practice is already prohibited under NSW Health policy and was formally rejected by parliament in 2019 when a bipartisan majority voted to decriminalise abortion. In a social media post, Mr Joyce stated that "you can't sex select as a reason for a termination."
"There has to be a line in this and let's be honest with each other, we all know that," the post read. "This law in NSW must be passed or otherwise we all accept that sex selection is appropriate."
During a sometimes heated interview with the ABC on Wednesday evening, Mr Joyce said he was "pro-life." However, when told that this was not the "majority view in the country," Mr Joyce replied, "I would agree to that."
"I don't go out to engage in this debate to become popular. If I wanted to be, I'd stay away from it," he said. "I engage with it because I believe it is the correct thing to do and I feel I would be an unsubstantial person if I start stepping away from my beliefs."
Pressed on whether people would disagree with his views, Mr Joyce said "that is not unusual." He denied that he was seeking to ban abortion outright. Pointing to a study last year from Edith Cowan University that examined birth data from 1994 to 2015, Mr Joyce claimed that out of 15,000 abortions, there were "about 13 or 14" which were self-reported as being for sex selection.
"I think if there is one, that is wrong," he said. Mr Joyce clarified that his post, which appeared to contain a mistaken comment that "girls are not as good as boys," was intended as "rhetorical."
"It was posted as a rhetorical form and people who plain don't like me, (and) don't have the capacity to understand it's rhetorical, put it there as factual," he explained.
Tuesday's rally was also attended by prominent anti-abortion activist and University of Adelaide academic Dr Joanna Howe. Dr Howe last year threatened to run a grassroots campaign against then-NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman over his support for a bill to expand abortion access. At the time, Premier Chris Minns condemned Dr Howe for "American-style misinformation."
The current bill is being put forward by Libertarian MLC John Ruddick. If passed, it would impose fines of up to $22,000 or up to five years in prison for those found guilty of performing sex-selective abortions. While the bill will be debated in parliament, it will not be voted on for some time. When it eventually comes to a vote, it is likely to fail as it is expected to lack support from Labor or the Greens.
Premier Chris Minns, who addressed the media regarding an expansion of the Labor government's program to allow pharmacists to prescribe and dispense the contraceptive pill, said that seeking an abortion on the basis of gender is already illegal. "I've looked at the data. The demographic data does not indicate that there are sex selection terminations taking place in NSW and we know that because we see in minute detail the number of people and pregnancies that are born each and every year," he stated.
"People have got a right to protest ... but I wouldn't support the legislation if it did make it to the lower house," Mr Minns added.
