One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has defended the party from a former candidate’s anti-gay comments, declaring on air that One Nation is apparently “one of the gayest parties in Australia”.
That’s right, after a former party candidate described homosexuality as a mental illness and questioned why same-sex marriage was ever legalised, Joyce not only defended One Nation’s gay credentials but made quite the audacious claim.
Because apparently, according to Joyce, One Nation (ON) has been hiding something from us all. Peel back the layers and ON is actually, like, super gay.
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Questioned over comments from former One Nation candidate
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing on Wednesday, Joyce was asked about comments made by former One Nation WA candidate Parminder Singh, who appeared in an interview last month describing gay people as mentally ill and criticising Pride parades as “advertising” homosexuality to young people.
Singh, who was number three on One Nation’s Western Australian Legislative Council ticket at the 2025 state election, also said he did not want same-sex marriage to remain legal.
One Nation subsequently removed Singh’s profile from its website after the ABC made enquiries about his comments.
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‘One Nation is one of the gayest parties in Australia’
Joyce said Singh’s remarks were “highly offensive” and claimed they fell outside what he called the Australian political “guardrails”.
“He obviously doesn’t know One Nation because we got a surprise for him. We have quite a large proportion of gay people,” Joyce said.
“We believe in an Australian culture that is tolerant, egalitarian, and has things that are inside the guardrails.”
Then, Joyce added the one-liner that will be the butt of many jokes to come:
“I think we’re one of the gayest parties in Australia.”
While One Nation does have an openly gay South Australian MP, James Virgo, claiming the party is one of Australia’s gayest is a pretty bold statement given its track record on LGBTQIA+ rights.
Not that we need them, but we brought the receipts
When Australia voted on marriage equality in 2017, One Nation’s federal senators were not exactly leading the Pride parade.
Two One Nation senators voted against the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill, while two others did not vote.
Pauline Hanson and Peter Georgiou were among the senators who did not vote, while Brian Burston and Fraser Anning voted against the bill.
At the time, Hanson said she supported “traditional marriage” and could not support the legislation as passed, despite acknowledging that a majority of Australians had voted yes in the postal survey.
Joyce himself was also a vocal opponent of marriage equality during his time in the Nationals, almost always voting against same-sex marriage equality.
So while Joyce is now keen to emphasise the presence of gay people within One Nation, the party’s parliamentary history on LGBTQIA+ rights is considerably less rainbow-coloured.
And the party’s current rhetoric around LGBTQIA+ communities has hardly disappeared.
At her National Press Club address in June, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson described what she calls “transgender ideology” as “infecting society”.
Meanwhile, just months ago, One Nation’s South Australian leader Cory Bernardi was asked about an infamous speech he made in the Senate in 2012, when he linked same-sex marriage with bestiality and polygamy.
His response? He doubled down, declaring that his “position has not changed in 14 years.”
So, yeah… I think it’s safe to say One Nation really isn’t “one of the gayest parties in Australia”.
But did we really need to ask ourselves that? No.
At the very least, it’s just one more moment watching a member of One Nation putting their foot in it.
For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, and community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
