MP Barnaby Joyce addressed anti-abortion campaigners at a rally in Sydney in early June. He told the audience he observed "about 1,500 people who can hand out how to vote cards."
Christian leaders spoke at the rally, where the Lord's Prayer was recited. Many attendees were active churchgoers.
About one in five Australians regularly attend church, according to the National Church Life Survey. The proportion of church attendees born overseas has risen to more than one in three, and about a quarter of Australian churchgoers speak a language other than English at home. Christianity is the largest religion in Australia, with approximately 44% of the population identifying as Christian; Anglicanism and Catholicism are the two largest Christian affiliations.
Simon Smart, executive director of the Centre for Public Christianity, noted potential conflicts with faith-based principles. "The anti-immigration, anti-refugee stance of One Nation will be a stumbling block to people whose faith calls them to welcome the stranger and to view all people as precious because they're made in the image of God," Smart said.
One Nation maintains a policy of refusing entry to migrants from nations known to foster ideas deemed "incompatible with Australian values." Pauline Hanson, who founded One Nation, was censured in the Senate for questioning the existence of "good Muslims."
Pauline Hanson is recording higher net approval ratings than both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Angus Taylor. John Warhurst, an emeritus professor of political science at the Australian National University, commented on the party's potential influence among religious voters. "If One Nation is to have an impact among Christians, it would have to be through their policy program, and the general vibe that they're representing believers," Warhurst said.
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