‘Victim blaming’: Hanson demands apology as claims of inciting violence continue

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has demanded an apology from one of the Albanese government’s most senior ministers, after Attorney-General Michelle Rowland suggested Hanson’s engagement with extremist ideologies was fuelling violent threats against her.

In a post to social media on Tuesday, Hanson accused Rowland of excusing violent threats against One Nation members and supporters, who she said are “not extremists” or “dangerous”.

“No minister, especially the attorney-general and first law officer of the country, should suggest there is any justification for threats against Australians because of the political party they support,” Hanson wrote on Facebook.

“Labor should be asking why Australians are abandoning them for One Nation, not demonising those Australians for how they vote and putting them in danger. These are desperate acts from a government of liars.”

On Monday, Hanson accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian education system of directly inciting violence against her. This masthead then revealed the One Nation leader’s personal protection detail, and that of high-profile party colleague Barnaby Joyce, had increased to meet a rise in threats against her.

The accusation came after Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers used an appearance at a Queensland Labor conference over the weekend to label the ascendant right-wing party as divisive and a threat to Australian democracy.

Appearing on morning radio on Tuesday, Rowland acknowledged that threats against politicians, especially women, were on the rise, but suggested Hanson’s security concerns weren’t helped by her decision to platform extremists and convicted criminals like British man Tommy Robinson.

“It is dangerous to be a politician in Australia today. It’s dangerous to be a high-profile woman. It is dangerous to be going out in public in some instances, and I can say this as someone who has been in parliament for 16 years,” Rowland told ABC radio.

“I would suggest that Senator Hanson should examine what her party and what her ideology and her behaviour is doing, and whether or not that is encouraging that. I don’t wish any politician any ill will, irrespective of their political persuasion … [however] I think sometimes when comments like this are made, one needs to look at oneself and one’s behaviour.”

Hanson described these comments as “victim-blaming” in her Facebook post.

A Perth man appeared in court last month after allegedly threatening to kill Hanson. He is scheduled to appear again in October.

Nearly 40 people have been charged with Commonwealth crimes since September last year for allegedly threatening MPs and other high office holders, and there are about 20 ongoing court cases around the country in which people are accused of making violent threats against Albanese.

While on a recent trip to Europe, Hanson gave an interview with Robinson – a far-right British activist with a history of criminal convictions – in which she said Australia’s problems with immigration began when the government “got rid of the White Australian [sic] policy”. She also claimed many Muslim migrants had migrated to Australia to access welfare payments and “rip off” the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

This masthead revealed last month that One Nation had welcomed into its party a young, far-right influencer who has been filmed mixing with neo-Nazis and is sponsored by an overseas bookstore selling Adolf Hitler texts.

In June, Hanson admitted One Nation had shut down party branches she said were “infiltrated by extremists”.

In 2024, Hanson was found guilty of racially vilifying Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi in a social media post from 2022 by telling her to “piss off back to Pakistan”. Hanson is currently considering whether to appeal the decision to the High Court.

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