In Australia, One Nation leader conditionally apologizes for remarks about Indigenous peoples
In Australia, One Nation leader and Senator Pauline Hanson has conditionally apologized to Indigenous Australians after calling them “the most primitive race on Earth.” She told journalists that she would apologize if using the word “primitive” had offended anyone, ABC News Australia reports.
Reaction to the remarks
Hanson’s remarks, made last September on the conservative Jamie J podcast, sparked widespread condemnation. She criticized the significant focus on Indigenous history in the school curriculum and claimed that they had supposedly “achieved nothing.”
Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy called the senator’s remarks demeaning and completely racist, urging her to apologize. Several Indigenous leaders also expressed disappointment, describing Hanson’s claims as false and indicative of ignorance.
Writer and advocate Thomas Mayo said that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had developed complex systems of law, governance, culture, trade and land management over tens of thousands of years.
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Hanson’s explanation
Speaking to News24, Hanson said she had “said too much,” and that her comments about First Nations people referred to the past — the period of Australia’s colonization. According to her, she was comparing the Indigenous population of that time with settlers arriving from England, rather than speaking about modern Indigenous Australians.
The senator added that she regretted what she had said because she had not intended to upset or offend anyone. At the same time, she said she supported equal treatment of all Australians according to their needs, rather than on the basis of race.
Remarks about the prime minister’s mother
Hanson also commented on her remarks about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s late mother, Maryanne, who died in 2002 and lived in public housing for many years. The senator said her comments were not demeaning toward the head of government’s mother, but concerned the public housing system. She added that she was sorry if Albanese had taken this as an insult.
Albanese previously said he was shocked by the criticism of his mother, whom he described as a person of great character. He stressed that Hanson could criticize him personally, but not his mother.
