One Nation proposes $2,000 baby subsidy in Victoria but says it won’t touch state abortion laws

One Nation has proposed a $2,000 baby bonus for new parents in Victoria – a day after the Labor and Liberal parties both agreed to cover out-of-pocket costs for abortion care.

The deputy leader of One Nation in Victoria, Colleen Harkin, announced the plan on Friday to remove out-of-pocket costs for pregnant women in the public healthcare system and a $2,000 subsidy for those accessing private maternity care.

She said it would cost $136m over four years but admitted it was a “ballpark” figure that would depend on how many babies were born each year.

“We don’t go hard on figures, because we actually don’t have access to the detail of this stuff,” Harkin told reporters.

She said One Nation “will not touch the abortion laws” in Victoria despite the federal party’s national platform pledging to “seek every opportunity to roll back brutal and extreme abortion law”.

“We have no state abortion policy because it is not our focus whatsoever,” Harkin said, accusing the Labor party of “lying” and “engaging with really cheap American-style scaremongering”.

On Thursday, Labor announced that, if re-elected in November, it would eliminate out-of-pocket costs for abortion care, costing $30m over four years, and claimed One Nation could use abortion as a negotiating chip with the Coalition in the event of a hung parliament.

Under Labor’s plan, private providers would be paid to deliver medical and surgical abortions up to 16 weeks’ gestation. Women would no longer have to pay for GP and specialist consultations, scans, tests or medication, which can cost up to $1,000. Those in regional Victoria who must travel long distances for care would also be eligible for a subsidy.

The government would extend access to medical abortion from nine to 10 weeks’ gestation, while commissioning a clinical review into whether it could safely be offered at up to 12 weeks’ gestation.

Within hours, the opposition leader, Jess Wilson, said the Coalition would match the plan to cover out-of-pocket costs and the travel subsidy. In a statement she said “the Liberals and Nationals will not allow Labor to play politics on this issue”.

On Friday, Fiona Carroll, the wife of the premier, Ben Carroll, defended her husband for raising abortion in the lead up to the election.

“It does build on the Labor legacy, and I don’t think I’m politicising this because it is fundamental to the women in this state,” she said.

Fiona said it was “even better” the Coalition had matched the commitment, as it would “take some of that fear” out of the election for women.

Neither the Liberal party nor Labor responded to a request for comment on One Nation’s policy.

Anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe criticised Wilson, describing the Liberals as being in “lock step with Labor on every vile and evil policy” and directing her followers in Victoria to back One Nation. The Australian Christian Lobby’s Victorian director, Jasmine Yeun, said it was “getting more difficult to vote for a major party”.

But the chief executive of Women’s Health Victoria, Sally Hasler welcomed the bipartisanship on the issue. It means no matter who is elected, Victoria will become the first state to provide abortion free, universal abortion are.

“We are very reassured to know that it won’t be an election issue because we have support from both the ALP and the Coalition to not just protect rights, but to expand rights,” Hasler said.

She described One Nation’s announcement as a deliberate attempt to frame reproductive healthcare as a choice between abortion and maternity care.

“Responding to an abortion care announcement with a maternity care announcement is a false trade off, and it’s a deliberate one,” she said.

“It is a well-played move from the international anti-rights agenda to wind back women’s rights - one which narrowly defines women’s reproductive health.”