Pauline Hanson has refused to apologise for comments calling Indigenous Australians the “most primitive race on Earth.”
“If we go back to the time of civilisation in Australia, they were primitive compared to the settlers that came here from England,” she told News24 on Sept. 15.
Senator Hanson, the leader of the conservative-leaning One Nation that’s surged in opinion polls since late 2025, was asked if she would apologise for comments made on the Jamie J podcast last year, which have been unearthed by media outlets.
During the podcast, she criticised the study of Indigenous history and culture in schools.
Those comments, along with recently publicised remarks criticising Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s mother for spending decades in public housing, as well as a satirical cartoon labelling former soldier and Liberal MP Andrew Hastie a traitor, have infuriated her political opponents.
Speaking on the podcast, Senator Hanson questioned why Aboriginal culture and language was being taught in schools.
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“Sorry, the most primitive race on earth, and we’re supposed to be holding up and saying what they’ve achieved. They’ve achieved nothing,” she on the podcast.
In response, she said she was a “voice for the Australian people” who championed equality for all based on need, not race.
“I will not back down from raising the issues that need to be talked about and debated in this nation, and I will continue to do that,” she said following the blowback from the podcast, noting she did not want to get people offside.
“A lot of Aboriginal people support me because they feel they have been used as pawns in this,” she said.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said her comments did not even meet a basic test of decency.
Fellow Liberal and Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price rebuked Senator Hanson, saying making Australia better was about working together rather than tearing people down based on race.
“When you say ’the most primitive race on Earth,’ you are speaking about a race of people,” she told Sydney radio 2GB.
“I don’t care what excuses are being made. She did absolutely demonstrate willful ignorance because there’s a hell of a lot more to Australia’s first people than simply what her remarks suggest.”
The comments have sparked condemnation from four Indigenous senators.
Pointing to the rare unity, Labor Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said it “speaks volumes” as to why Senator Hanson should apologise.
“Clearly the Senate can act, but I am personally calling out to Senator Hanson saying this is important,” she told ABC TV.
“What [she] said is deeply hurtful. It’s completely wrong.
“Those comments were completely baseless. They harm. They dehumanise First Nations people in Australia.”
The One Nation leader was banned from parliament for seven parliamentary sitting days in November after she wore a burqa in the Senate, leading to her being censured.
Successful censure motions are uncommon and give parliamentarians the chance to formally express their disapproval of colleagues, but they do not have any legal consequences.
By Tess Ikonomou and Lucinda Garbutt-Young in Canberra.
