One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts claimed half of pregnant women vaccinated against COVID-19 experienced a miscarriage in contradiction of medical evidence.
The Queensland senator has faced criticism this week for his past controversial comments, including about debunked conspiracy theories, as the party’s popularity placed more attention on Pauline Hanson’s parliamentary team.
The ABC can reveal previously unreported remarks made by Senator Roberts about the impact of COVID-19 vaccinations on pregnant women — claims that are contradicted by extensive medical evidence — during a live stream with anti-vax mandate activists four years ago.
After suggesting the general miscarriage rate “around the world” was “about 13 per cent” based on “Japanese figures, the American figures et cetera,” Senator Roberts then said it was dramatically higher for women who had received a COVID-19 vaccine.
The claims were made during a livestream with anti-vax mandate activists four years ago. (Supplied: YouTube)
“For women who’ve been injected, it’s 50 per cent,” he said.
“For women who’ve been injected in the first trimester, it is 75 per cent miscarriage rate.”
However there is “no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are associated with an increased risk of miscarriage”, according to a systematic review that pooled 21 studies involving 149,685 women published in the journal Human Reproduction in 2023.
At the time Senator Roberts made the comments, multiple studies had already reached the same conclusion, including an analysis of 2,456 pregnancies published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2021.
Senator Roberts made the false miscarriage claims in a Zoom live stream hosted by anti-vaccine mandate activist Michael Simms posted to YouTube ahead of the federal election in May 2022.
The discussion also included former Qantas captain Graham Hood, who became a prominent face of Australia’s anti-vaccine mandate during the pandemic, and Michael O’Neill, who is the founder of the Informed Medical Options Party.
The organisation was formerly known as the Involuntary Medication Objectors Party, which campaigned against mandatory vaccines and water fluoridation.
Senator Roberts was contacted for comment via Senator Hanson’s office.
Australian health advice recommends COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women who are unvaccinated, while those previously vaccinated are not routinely advised to receive another dose during pregnancy unless they have additional risk factors or choose to do so.
Malcolm Roberts was first elected to the Senate at the 2016 Australian federal election. (Getty Images: Tracey Nearmy)
Chemtrails, Putin and ‘false-flag’ comments spark criticism
Senator Roberts was first elected to the Senate in 2016 and has been a loyal supporter of Senator Hanson over the past decade.
His comments have come under renewed scrutiny in recent weeks as One Nation’s growing electoral success garnered attention.
Senator Roberts praised Alex Jones as a “beacon of hope around the world” in an appearance on a podcast hosted by the American conspiracy theorist in October 2024, which was first reported by The Sydney Morning Herald this week.
Mr Jones has claimed events like the 9/11 terror attack and 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting were “false-flag” operations.
Speaking on the Conversations with Adrian podcast last year, Senator Roberts said Russian President Vladimir Putin had “earned his respect” by invading Ukraine and described the war as a fight against “globalists”.
In another example revealed by The Australian, Senator Roberts claimed it was “highly likely” the US Air Force was spraying “chemtrails” — a debunked conspiracy theory that deadly toxins are being released into the atmosphere as part of a secret global depopulation plan.
He has also been criticised for sharing an image of an antisemitic mural on his social media, which he described as “the most powerful pic I’ve ever seen”.
The image, which was painted by graffiti artist Kalen Ockerman in 2012, depicts businessmen and bankers with exaggerated features counting money and was removed by London authorities after complaints of antisemitism.
Dr Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, told The Sydney Morning Herald the painting was “one of the most notorious antisemitic murals of our time”.
One Nation’s rising popularity has led to a fresh examination of its members. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
Important to ‘shine a light’ on One Nation statements
Liberal senator Paul Scarr on Friday advocated for further public examination of One Nation’s positions and claims rather than symbolic censuring in the Senate.
“I think the better thing to do is to scrutinise what One Nation’s policies are and what the One Nation team are actually coming up with,” he told Afternoon Briefing on Friday.
“From my perspective … the most important thing to shine a light on (One Nation policies and statements) for the benefit of Australian people so they could come to a judgement themselves.”
Earlier this week, Opposition leader Angus Taylor said while One Nation was a “one-person show” where leader Pauline Hanson “calls the shots” he was also concerned about Senator Roberts’s past comments.
“We’ve got Malcolm Roberts out there saying that the United States is the ‘worst terrorist organisation in the world’ and praising Alex Jones, who thinks that 9/11 was a false-flag operation,” Mr Taylor said.
“He himself hasn’t been clear about whether he thinks Bondi was a false-flag operation.”
