Michelle Daw, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Chantelle Thomas invoked the Bible, calling for a return to Christian values, and an end to abortions and “woke ideology” in her maiden speech as the Member for Narungga last week.

Speaking in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, May 20, Mrs Thomas said Australia was built on strong Christian values of faith, family, respect, personal responsibility and helping neighbours.

“While we welcome people from all backgrounds, we should never be afraid to acknowledge the Christian foundations that shaped our laws, institutions and way of life,” Mrs Thomas said.

“We must protect those values and ensure Australia remains a nation united by shared principles, strong communities and respect for our traditions.

“We no longer teach God in schools anymore.

“When many Australians look at our education system today, they no longer recognise it.

“Today, many parents feel those values are being replaced by a growing woke agenda being pushed into our public schools.”

Mrs Thomas said she was deeply concerned about the growing normalisation of puberty blockers and other life-altering medical surgery for vulnerable young people.

“Children cannot legally drink alcohol, gamble or even get a tattoo because society recognises they are not mature enough to make serious, lifelong decisions; yet we are now seeing children encouraged down pathways that may have permanent consequences for their bodies and futures,” she said.

“As a member of this house, I will always stand for parental rights, the protection of children and an education system that puts learning before ideology.

“As it says in Matthew 24:12, ‘Lawlessness will increase and the love of many will grow cold’.

“That is what we are witnessing all around us.”

Mrs Thomas described herself as a make-up artist and stay-at-home mother, and an “everyday Australian — not a university student, not a political staffer and not a lawyer”.

She said she had many emotional moments during the election campaign.

“I met people who had lost hope and people who had never had someone knock on their door simply to ask how they felt,” she said.

“People voted for me because I listened, I cared and I followed through.”

Thomas takes a stand against abortion

In her maiden speech to state parliament, Member for Narungga Chantelle Thomas spoke out against abortion and said it was not health care.

“I believe every baby and every life matters, and that many families in Australia would gladly adopt and care for children who are otherwise never given the chance at life,” she said.

“These babies matter just as much as you and I do.

“They are human, just as you and I are.

“I believe in women’s rights and I believe in common sense and that it is not common sense to abort a full-term healthy baby.”

According to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, late-term abortion represented only one per cent of all abortions performed in South Australia in 2024.

“When they do occur, they almost always invariably involve circumstances of severe foetal abnormalities incompatible with life, or serious threats to the pregnant woman’s health and life,” the RANZCOG website states.

On the same day as Mrs Thomas’s speech, former One Nation member, Legislative Councillor Sarah Game, introduced legislation to place new limits on abortions after 24 weeks and six days.

Under current South Australian law, abortion is permitted after 23 weeks with the approval of two doctors if continued pregnancy poses a “significant risk” to the person’s physical or mental health.

Under the proposed bill by Ms Game, the approval clause would be removed, limiting abortions after 23 weeks to cases where it was necessary to save the expectant mother’s life, or that of another foetus, or if there was a significant risk of foetal abnormalities.

This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 26 May 2026.