Addressing a largely conservative audience in London, Pauline Hanson asserted that there is no need to apologize for being white. Her remarks come amid intensifying criticism over her views on immigration and transgender issues.
During her speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held on Saturday morning in the UK, the leader of Australia’s One Nation party claimed that the country has been “flooded” by migrants. She also criticized what she termed Australia’s “complete” embrace of being “woke” about transgender rights.
This speech concluded her high-profile tour of Europe, which also featured an interview on a podcast with Tommy Robinson, an English anti-immigration activist who has a criminal record, and an appearance at a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show in Italy alongside Gina Rinehart, a billionaire donor to One Nation.
“I’ve received feedback from Australia, with the media questioning how I could associate with Tommy Robinson and why I would choose to speak with him,” Hanson remarked to a conference room audience that appeared to be less than one-third filled, based on video shared online.
“Do not apologize for being white. I’m tired of discussions about white privilege,” she declared.
Hanson also said Australia was “too stupid” to get its laws around discrimination against transgender people right and praised a UK court decision that ruled the legal definition of a woman depended on their biological sex.
“There’s going to be so much psychological damage that’s going to be done to our future generations,” she said.
Hanson had already come under fire in Australia earlier in the week for her interview with Robinson, in which she pointed to the scrapping of the White Australia policy as the root cause of migration issues in the country.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressed those comments on Saturday, saying it was important to remember that the racially discriminatory immigration policy was dismantled by both sides of politics and challenged the Opposition leader to rule out any future political deals with One Nation.
Hanson later released a video on social media saying allegations that she wanted to reintroduce the White Australia policy were false. “Never, ever have I advocated that, and I don’t believe in that,” she said.
“Yes, I’ve been strong on immigration. Bringing the right people into the country in a measured way and people who want to assimilate and be Australians.”
‘It’s farcical’
Other speakers at the London CPAC event included Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and short-lived former Tory prime minister Liz Truss.
After an earlier meeting with Farage fell over due to his resignation from the UK parliament to re-contest his seat, Hanson and the Reform leader met briefly on the sidelines of the conference.
Hanson also told the conference that Australia had brought in too many immigrants, and this was putting too much pressure on the housing system.
She also said migrants should want to be Australian and not introduce cultures that were “incompatible” with the Australian way of life.
“Do I want Sharia Law? No way in the whole wide world,” she said.
“Do I want child marriages? No.”
“Do I want the burqa seen on our streets. No.”
Gamel Kheir from the Lebanese Muslim Association — who spoke to SBS News on Saturday about similar comments Hanson made during her Tommy Robinson interview — challenged the One Nation leader to provide evidence of such claims.
“If she’s going to throw that sort of slur that we somehow practice Sharia law, where is the evidence for that?” he said.
“I have yet to meet anyone Muslim or non-Muslim who advocates for their own law in contrast and in competition with the Australian law. It’s farcical.”
Backlash grows
Asked about Hanson’s remarks, Liberal moderate and frontbencher Andrew Bragg said Hanson was going out of her way to make life harder for minorities.
“The idea that there’s a spectre of transgender people taking over Australia, I just think is insane,” he told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.
However, he refused to be drawn on whether the Coalition should rule out a potential preference deal with One Nation at the next federal election.
Instead, he extended his criticism to the government, insisting that picking between Labor and One Nation would be difficult as both were “terrible”.
In early June, polling emerged that suggested One Nation was Australia’s most popular political party. While more recent surveys have indicated a drop in primary support for One Nation, the party remains ahead of the Coalition.
Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume told Sky News on Sunday that Hanson’s comments about the White Australia policy were “unnecessary”, “divisive”, “inflammatory” and “totally un-Australian”.
She said that, in her discussions with Australians, no-one had brought up the racially discriminatory immigration scheme or the idea of banning the burqa.
NSW Premier Chris Minns added that it was “blatantly unfair” and untrue to blame non-white migrants for any problems that existed in Australia, adding that any attempt to return to past discriminatory policies would undermine the nation’s standing.
“That would make Australia a pariah nation, probably one of the only in the world that had that kind of race-based immigration policies,” he said.