One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and federal MP Barnaby Joyce have distanced themselves from former Western Australian candidate Parminder Singh after he made a series of homophobic comments.
Singh, who was number three on One Nation WA’s Legislative Council ticket at the 2025 state election but was not elected, made the comments in a video with Perth comedian and content creator Jasky Singh, known as “Mr Sikkant”.
During the interview, Singh claimed Pride parades “advertise” homosexuality, blamed busy parents for their children being gay and described being gay as a “mental illness”. He also said he opposed same-sex marriage.
His comments have been widely condemned as inaccurate and harmful. Homosexuality was removed from the American Psychiatric Association’s list of mental disorders in 1973, while the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its diagnostic classification in 1990.
WA Labor MP Dr Katrina Stratton called the comments dangerous, deeply offensive and outdated, urging political leaders to condemn them.
Openly gay WA Labor minister John Carey also described Singh’s remarks as “extreme, divisive and nasty”.
One Nation distances itself
Hanson told reporters at Parliament House that Singh was no longer a One Nation candidate.
“I know he’s made comments,” she said. “He’s not a candidate. He’s an individual that has his own views.”
“They’re not my views.”
Joyce similarly rejected Singh’s comments, noting that his profile had been removed from the One Nation website.
“I don’t concur with his views and, to be quite frank, he obviously hasn’t been around farms,” Joyce told the ABC.
Asked whether he was referring to same-sex behaviour among animals, Joyce confirmed he was, before making the unexpected declaration: “I think we’re one of the gayest parties in Australia.”
One Nation WA leader Rod Caddies has also said Singh’s comments do not represent the party and that Singh was not authorised to speak on its behalf.
Singh is not contesting the upcoming Secret Harbour by-election, although he has recently appeared in social media content supporting One Nation’s candidate.
For LGBTQ+ Australians, the controversy comes amid continuing concern about misinformation surrounding sexuality and gender being amplified through political discourse.
