One Nation has faced backlash over a controversial campaign advertisement portraying progressive voters through crude stereotypes, while Pauline Hanson’s daughter has criticised a Tasmanian business for publicly objecting to her party’s politics.
The video, titled Coming Out, urges Victorians to declare their support for One Nation ahead of next month’s state election. It presents a family in Melbourne as progressively minded before its members reveal that they are secretly politically conservative.
The advertisement targets issues including immigration, crime, renewable energy and gender expression. In one scene, a suicide bomber removes an explosive vest and says: “I shouldn’t have been allowed into the country.” In another, a man of African appearance discards a machete and says he “shouldn’t be on bail”.
Pauline Hanson shared the video on social media with the message: “It’s ok to come out … as a One Nation voter”.
Critics accused the party of reducing complex social and political issues to simplistic stereotypes. One viewer said: “Bigotry relies on rigid, oversimplified binaries, whereas a grounded view of humanity embraces its full complexity and variety. Hanson lacks on all fronts.”
Others described the video as “disappointing” and “AI slop”, while some questioned whether financial pressures had influenced the decision to produce it. One Nation supporters, however, praised the campaign, with one calling it the “best political ad I have ever seen”.
Lee Hanson criticises Tasmanian business
The controversy has also led to a dispute involving Lee Hanson, a One Nation candidate for a Tasmanian Senate seat.
Lee is a regular customer at the Richmond Reading Room, a coffee shop and book store co-owned by Dana Stevens. After criticising the One Nation advertisement on Instagram, Stevens referred to members of the party who visited the business.
“Unfortunately our coffee is so good that even One Nation members spend their money here — owned and run by a gay, indigenous-descended, trans-inclusive, pro-multicultural, anti-flag, pro-choice, anti-generative AI, Greens voter,” Stevens wrote.
Stevens said money spent at the store by One Nation members would be donated to the Tasmanian Greens.
Lee Hanson said she was “genuinely hurt” by the post, arguing that she had always been welcomed at the business and had deliberately supported it as a local customer.
“Apparently, while I was being welcomed through the door and buying my coffee, I was privately regarded with such contempt that the business has now made this public announcement,” she wrote on Facebook.
She said the owners should have spoken to her directly rather than publishing their concerns online.
“Why not simply talk to me? I am a person. I am a local. I am a customer who has supported your business for years,” she said.
Lee added: “You do not have to agree with my politics. I would never expect you to. But surely we have reached a pretty sad place when someone’s political beliefs determine whether their presence or their custom is considered acceptable.”
She said she would continue supporting other Tasmanian businesses but would no longer visit the Richmond Reading Room.
“We can disagree politically and still treat each other with basic respect. I genuinely wish that courtesy had been extended to me,” she said.
