Overview
- Mike Newman told an anti-abortion rally outside NSW parliament on Tuesday that One Nation wanted abortion rights to be “stopped,” a remark widely reported and quoted by multiple outlets.
- He issued a walkback the next day, saying he had misspoken and that he meant sex-selection and late-term terminations while insisting the party does not back an outright ban.
- Newman vowed that if One Nation wins government he will push measures to explicitly prohibit sex-selection terminations and bring the issue back onto the parliamentary agenda.
- NSW already bars terminations performed for the sole purpose of sex selection and requires two specialist approvals for abortions after 22 weeks; a 2020 NSW Health review found 13 flagged cases likely to include reporting errors while a 2025 Edith Cowan University study found patterns consistent with male-biased birth ratios but did not prove causation.
- Premier Chris Minns and other MPs criticised Newman’s inconsistent messaging, MPs say John Ruddick’s private member’s bill to criminalise sex-selection is unlikely to pass, and the episode sharpens scrutiny of One Nation’s campaign strategy and ties to activist Joanna Howe.