news

Barnaby Joyce's daughter Odette has weighed in on the abortion debate.

Barnaby Joyce is one of the loud voices currently opposing the bill to decriminalise abortion in NSW.

In recent days, NSW residents have received robocalls from the Nationals MP, urging them to oppose the bill, and claiming it “allows sex selective abortions [and] legalises abortions for any reason right up until the day of birth”.

Joyce, who has no vote on the matter, believes it’s his right as a citizen “to ensure there is a proper ventilation of both sides of this argument”.

Interestingly, however, his daughter Odette Joyce disagrees with him.

The former deputy PM’s youngest daughter posted on social media yesterday making it clear she does not support her father’s conservative approach.

WATCH: Is abortion legal in Australia? Post continues after video.

Odette, 15, shared an SBS article titled “Barnaby Joyce leads Sydney anti-abortion protest” to her Instagram story, adding the text; “Once again, I do not support you.”

It isn’t the first time Odette has hinted a divide with her father, either.

In July 2018, she posted a picture to Instagram of her mum, Barnaby’s now ex-wife Natalie Joyce, standing with her four daughters.

“The real Joyce family #WhosBarnaby,” she captioned the image below.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

The real Joyce family #whosbarnaby

A post shared by oj (@odettejoycee) on

ADVERTISEMENT

And a family post featuring Barnaby from 2016 is simply captioned “Rip”.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Rip

A post shared by oj (@odettejoycee) on

ADVERTISEMENT

Barnaby and his wife of 21 years split in 2018 after it was revealed Barnaby had been having an affair with former staffer Vikki Campion. The affair became known when Vikki fell pregnant with the Nationals MP’s child.

After the divorce, Barnaby moved in with Vikki, and the couple now have two sons – Sebastian and Thomas.

Barnaby has four daughters with his first wife; Bridgette, 20, Julia, 19, Caroline, 17, and Odette, 15.

His youngest Odette’s pointed Instagram story this week comes after anti-abortion protests headed by Barnaby saw hoards of people chanting “abort this bill” and “love them both” outside NSW parliament chambers.

The crowds were rallying against the private member’s bill which seeks to remove abortion from the state’s Crimes Act and allows women to end a pregnancy after 22 weeks, with doctors’ approval.

The bill seeks to help women who may be carrying a malformed foetus or a baby that could risk the mother’s life to end their pregnancy after the first trimester.

Barnaby has said amendments to the bill “(are) not a reflection of a civilised society”.

“I am not here to try and espouse a religion. I’m not here saying I’m some saint. I’m here because I’m trying to argue to those people on logic,” he said on Tuesday night.

The bill passed the lower house 59 to 31, but according to reports that Premier Gladys Berejiklian is under immense pressure from conservatives, the upper house debate, which began on Tuesday, may drag into September.