Overview
- On Sunday, after a Europe trip, Pauline Hanson doubled down on comments she made in a podcast with far‑right figure Tommy Robinson and at a UK conservative conference, saying she does not regret blaming migration problems on the end of the White Australia policy.
- Hanson has denied she wants to reintroduce race‑based immigration rules while endorsing hardline measures such as mass deportations targeted at people she calls 'illegal immigrants', a position One Nation lists as a policy to deport 75,000 people.
- Federal leaders from Labor and the Coalition publicly criticised her overseas conduct as talking Australia down, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying representatives should promote the country not denigrate it.
- One Nation MPs including Barnaby Joyce have defended Hanson by rejecting a return to the White Australia policy but backing tougher enforcement and saying deportations would target unlawful non‑residents, a stance that keeps the controversy politically charged as polls show One Nation gaining support.
- The debate touches on deeper issues of identity and Australia’s immigration history, since the White Australia policy was dismantled by the 1970s, and critics warn Hanson's rhetoric risks fuelling Islamophobia and harming social cohesion.