A new controversy has engulfed Australia’s One Nation party after a resurfaced video showed one of its former electoral candidates making inflammatory and discriminatory claims that homosexuality constitutes a mental illness, prompting senior party figure Barnaby Joyce to mount an unusual defense of the party’s record on LGBTQ+ inclusion.
The comments came from Parminder Singh, who ran unsuccessfully for One Nation for a seat in Western Australia’s Legislative Council during the 2021 state election. The footage of his remarks was captured in a recorded interview with Perth-based comedian Jasky Singh, who operates online under the persona Mr Sikkant, and was recently circulated widely on social media.
In the clip, Singh went beyond his core claim that being gay is a mental illness, also arguing that animals are morally superior to humans because they do not engage in same-sex relationships. He additionally asserted that any woman who has experimented with a same-sex relationship never returns to heterosexual partnerships, claiming women leave men because they feel used and find same-sex relationships more fulfilling. When directly asked by the interviewer whether he believed people are born gay, Singh firmly rejected the idea, repeating his assertion that same-sex orientation is a mental health disorder.
In the wake of the video going public, Barnaby Joyce, One Nation’s senior federal parliamentary representative, stepped forward to defend the party against accusations of systemic homophobia. In an interview with ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Joyce made the surprising claim that One Nation is “one of the gayest parties in Australia”, arguing the party counts a large share of openly LGBTQ+ members among its ranks.
Joyce condemned Singh’s remarks as highly offensive, noting that LGBTQ+ members of One Nation, like all people, simply want to be accepted rather than glorified or vilified, and contribute meaningfully to the party’s work. While he stopped short of explicitly confirming that Singh had been formally disendorsed by the party, Joyce confirmed that Singh’s profile had been removed from One Nation’s official website as of Wednesday, adding that removing a former candidate’s profile from the party’s online platform sends a clear signal that his views do not align with the party’s position.
Joyce further framed the incident as a matter of adhering to Australian social norms, arguing that all public expression must stay within the “guardrails” of modern Australian culture, which he described as inherently tolerant and egalitarian. “That’s one of our key policies, we believe in an Australian culture that is tolerant, egalitarian, and has things that are inside the guardrails,” Joyce said, adding that the party rejects any views that fall outside these widely accepted standards.
The opposition Labor Party has been quick to condemn both the remarks and One Nation’s response. Patrick Gorman, a federal Labor MP, took to social media to argue that homophobia has no place in Australian public life, calling Singh’s comments “deeply offensive” and rejecting the hate and discrimination the remarks promote. Gorman noted that Western Australia’s Perth electorate has hosted an annual Pride Parade since 1990, an event he has joined multiple times, framing the parade as a celebration of the region’s long-standing culture of kindness and inclusion for LGBTQ+ people.