Promise to vote on Abortion policies Joanna Howe asks demonstrators.

At an anti-abortion rally outside the NSW parliament last night, there were fiery speeches from politicians, including One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce, and Libertarian MLC John Ruddick, whose legislation to increase penalties for sex selective abortions the demo was supporting.

But the strongest speech came from a head of one of Australia’s largest denominations.

“I am not here as an activist, I am here as a pastor,” Joel Chelliah, President of Australian Christian Churches, told the rally. “I am here as a Christian, I am here as a disciple.

“My calling is to love people. My calling is to care for people. My calling is to help people find hope in Jesus. But my calling is also to encourage Christians to be the salt and light of the world around them.

“We need to respond as salt and light in the area … of this legislation. We need to respond as salt and light … for the reality of unborn children in Australia. I acknowledge that women do face rape and difficult situations. I am a pastor, and I have seen reality up close. And our response must always be with compassion and care for the woman. But, as well as that, support for the child as well.

“We cannot lose sight of the truth. The Bible is not silent on the value of life. It speaks so clearly of the value of every single person. In Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 5, the Bible says, ‘Before you were formed in the womb, I knew you. Before you were formed. I set you apart.’

“So every person from the beginning of time, every child has dignity, every child has value. Every life matters. Every woman, every child, wanted and unwanted, and whether the child is male or female.

We find ourselves in a very important moment. We can speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

The rally was a mix of Christian conviction about abortion and political party policies on the subject. Perhaps this amalgam was captured by the role taken by Gemma Noiosi, the Libertarian’s lead candidate for the Upper House, who led the crowd in Amazing Grace. She sang well. She may have done more than party leader John Ruddick, whose bill the demo was there to support, to raise the party’s profile.

In his speech, Chelliah acknowledged that Christians have a wide range of political opinions and did not endorse any party. This bystander gave him marks for publicly speaking about the unpopular topic of abortion.

The rally was compered by Dr Joanna Howe, who, unfortunately, was hard for this bystander at the back of the crowd to hear clearly. But it was clear that four National Party members in the NSW Upper House were the target of the rally. Howe led the enthusiastic rally in a “Nats must act” chant as she introduced Barnaby Joyce.

“You must keep that fire burning for those people who can’t stand up for themselves, and I call them people, they’re not foetuses,” Joyce said, according to The Guardian report. “They are people.”

“Politically, does this make you popular? Nup, nup. Probably lose half the votes every time you do it. But you know why you do it? Because it’s the right thing to do.”

“The one thing politicians fear is losing their job,” Joyce said. “They’re very mindful of that. What I see before me here is about 1,500 people who can hand out how to vote cards.”

He did not have to say vote One Nation, his presence and the “Nats must act” chants made that suggestion clear.

Howe said it for him. “The message to the Nats is: if the Nats don’t pass this bill, then One Nation is going to take your seats … If you don’t vote for this bill, Barnaby’s coming for you.”

At a high point toward the end, she asked the crowd, probably somewhat larger than Joyce said, to light their phones, wave their torches, and promise to make abortion the policy that decides their vote.

It seemed that Howe was urging the crowd to vote, One Nation, Family First or Libertarian at the party level at least. “We are going to take back this country,” Howe exclaimed.

This writer has questioned the effectiveness of this particular Bill, but Howe announced a strategy that places it in a better light – of bringing up anti-abortion bills each year in a Wiberforce-like campaign to build a movement over time. It took Wilberforce fifty years, Howe said, to abolish slavery. She asked the crowd to stand with her in the movement.

Image: Barnaby Joyce addresses the Anti abortion rally, June 2, 2026