In pure disrespect, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and three other One Nation senators turned their backs during an Acknowledgement of Country at the opening of Parliament. The party has since been condemned for their bozo behaviour.
Following Tuesday’s buffoonery, Hanson took to X (formerly Twitter) to express that she and her fellow One Nation members turned their backs in “protest”, stating that they’ve “had enough of being told we don’t belong in our own country”.
“They’re tired of being made to feel like outsiders. Tired of tokenistic rituals shoved into every meeting, every ceremony, every public event, while real issues like the cost of living and housing are brushed aside. There were at least three acknowledgements performed in Parliament today that I’m aware of,” Hanson spouted on X.
“These divisive performances aren’t about respect anymore. They’ve become a political routine that divides rather than unites.”
This afternoon in the Senate, every One Nation senator stood with me to turn our backs on the divisive and increasingly forced Acknowledgement of Country.
— Pauline Hanson 🇦🇺 (@PaulineHansonOz) July 22, 2025
I’ve made this protest on my own for years, but today, our whole team made it clear: we’ve had enough of being told we don’t… pic.twitter.com/iUoZbiDqn6
Alongside Hanson, One Nation senators Warwick Stacey and Tyron Whitten also turned their backs in their first parliamentary session since being voted in, per Sky News.
Despite Hanson and One Nation’s arguments against the Acknowledgement of Country, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese backed the tradition, noting that it’s a “powerful way to begin a new parliament” as well as look back on Australia’s history, The Canberra Times reports.
“Like a lot of the more positive things about our nation, we shouldn’t take it for granted,” Albanese said before adding that the tradition wasn’t controversial.
Naturally, One Nation has since copped major heat from other parties, with Indigenous affairs minister Malarndirri McCarthy slamming them for their “incredibly childish stunts” on Wednesday.
“These senators aren’t required to be in the Senate for the Acknowledgement of Country. In fact, they haven’t been, in the past, but they do now, whether it is for attention or for clickbait, whether it is to court offence, whether it is to stoke division, these senators have made a deliberate decision to disrespect First Nations Australians,” McCarthy said in the Senate on Thursday, per The Guardian.
“You’d think that they would have learned lessons from the election, President. You’d think that they’d have heard the clear message from the Australian people in May. The politics of culture wars were rejected. The politics of disrespect and nastiness were rejected.
“I urge all senators to remember who you work beside, who you walk with, and even when we disagree, we have a chamber here where we can discuss in a manner that is far more respectful than we’ve seen in these previous days.”
Following McCarthy’s statement, Hanson continued to claim that the Acknowledgement of Country statements were “divisive” and that their protest was to “speak up on behalf of Australian people who don’t want this division”.
In response, Greens leader Larissa Waters stood up to slam the One Nation members for their stunt, emphasising that it’s racism dividing the country, not Acknowledgement of Country or Welcome to Country statement.
“Well, it’s a bit rich to get a lecture on First Nations culture from the likes of Senator Hanson, and it’s also a bit rich to get a lecture about not wanting division from the likes of One Nation. It is not welcome to countries and acknowledgment of countries that are dividing the nation. It’s racism,” Waters said.
Hanson has since taken to X to respond to Thursday’s scathing criticisms, penning, “Labor and the Greens want to silence us, but I will not back down” and stating that she “[believes] in equality”.
As Waters said, it is pretty rich to hear someone say they yearn for equality and unity while being disrespectful.
Image source: Getty Images
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