Arabic version: خلاف بين هاو وتشابمان في اجتماع لنساء الحزب الليبرالي

According to ABC News, anti-abortion campaigner Joanna Howe clashed with former South Australian deputy premier Vickie Chapman over filming at the Liberal Women’s Council annual general meeting on Tuesday night. Howe, who was invited to speak in conversation with conservative Senator Alex Antic, said she had been granted permission to film her address. Chapman objected and moved that filming be blocked, saying she had not known Liberal Party meetings to be filmed in her more than 50 years in the party.

Chapman said audio recording could be approved by the meeting, but argued the meeting needed to decide whether filming should occur. Howe said in a social media video that she wanted to record her address to avoid being misquoted in the media. The matter went to a vote and Howe was allowed to film. She said Chapman and a small group of women who voted with her left afterwards.

The meeting also elected Tea Tree Gully councillor and former Liberal candidate Irena Zagladov as Liberal Women’s Council president, with Antic backing her candidacy. Antic-backed candidates won the other 12 delegate positions decided that night. The council is an official party organisation and its delegates take part in the State Council, which elects the party’s state president and votes on state and federal Senate preselections.

Howe is not a Liberal Party member and was a guest speaker. In a video about the event, she and her husband James Howe described Chapman and her supporters as “witches” who love killing babies. Chapman led the push for abortion reform in South Australia, which resulted in decriminalisation in 2021. Deputy opposition leader Josh Teague said he did not support the reported remarks and said public debate should be conducted with respect and decency. Chapman had been contacted for comment.

Antic was running uncontested for South Australian Liberal Party state president, with no other candidates publicly declaring before nominations were due to close at 5pm on Friday. Fellow conservative Tony Pasin defended Antic’s nomination, saying there had been “a level of hyperventilation” around the question.