Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has backed Liberal MP Andrew Hastie in his escalating dispute with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, accusing the party of launching a “disgusting” attack on a veteran.
Ms Lambie, a former Australian Defence Force soldier, said a One Nation cartoon portraying Mr Hastie as a traitor for giving evidence in Ben Roberts-Smith’s failed defamation case should be removed immediately.
“Attacking Andrew Hastie, a veteran that has served in our Afghanistan war, or any other veteran, is the lowest you can possibly do,” she told ABC Radio. “Leave our veterans alone.”
Her intervention came after Mr Hastie described Ms Hanson as a “lying coward” and accused her of refusing to take responsibility for the animated video, which has been posted on her X account and pinned there for more than a month.
Jacqui Lambie backs Andrew Hastie in One Nation row
Ms Hanson has denied personally calling Mr Hastie a traitor and insisted the video was satirical. She has refused to take it down, saying viewers could judge it for themselves.
Mr Hastie, a former SAS officer who served in Afghanistan, said the argument was “BS”, pointing out that the video had been authorised and promoted by Ms Hanson.
“She posted it and pinned it on her X account, and she authorised it,” he said. “So to play dumb is just ridiculous, which is why I called her a lying coward.”
The cartoon, titled “Don’t be Hastie”, refers to Mr Hastie’s decision to testify in the defamation case brought by Mr Roberts-Smith against Nine newspapers. It repeatedly uses the word “traitor” while portraying Mr Hastie seeking help from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Mr Roberts-Smith, a former SAS soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, is facing five charges of war-crime murder relating to his service in Afghanistan, which he denies. Mr Hastie has defended his evidence as consistent with the rule of law and the standards expected of Australian soldiers.
He said the controversy had followed months of abuse and that he was determined to draw a line under the campaign against him.
“I think she showed herself to be brittle,” Mr Hastie said of Ms Hanson’s response. “She’s happy to make cartoons that are highly defamatory of other people, and then as soon as she gets a bit of pushback she goes to water.”
He also said the One Nation leader’s conduct raised questions about her claims to be a potential prime minister, describing her as “weak, glass-jawed and unable to take responsibility for her actions”.
The dispute has drawn criticism from figures across the political spectrum. Opposition leader Angus Taylor and shadow defence minister James Paterson have also called on Ms Hanson to take down the video, while Greens senator David Shoebridge described the attack on Mr Hastie as disgraceful.
One Nation is seeking to challenge Mr Hastie in his Western Australian seat of Canning at the next federal election. The party recently won a state byelection in Secret Harbour, an area that overlaps with the federal electorate.
