‘Populism 101’: Hanson branded hypocrite over violence claims

September 5, 2026 — 5:00pmPoliticians from across the ideological divide have labelled Pauline Hanson a hypocrite after she spent the early part of this week accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of inciting violence against her and One Nation supporters.The claims of incitement, which extended to the Australian education system, have been criticised by the national teachers union as “unfounded and ignorant” while Hanson argues that establishment politicians are blaming her for threats she faces.Hanson lashed the government and education system this week over claims they had incited violence against her. Ross Swanborough“This is an attempt to reframe Hanson as a victim at the hands of a more powerful other that is dedicated to suppress her from gaining any form of political power. That they are simultaneously scared of her and violently threatening her,” said Dr Josh Roose, an associate professor of politics at Deakin University.“She is framing herself as the perennial outsider from the powerful who are determined to stop her representing the Australian people. That’s the narrative.”Energy Minister Chris Bowen, whose championing of the renewables transition has drawn One Nation’s ire, said that Hanson and Joyce “regularly” cross the line of legitimate political debate.“Barnaby Joyce stood at a rally in Wollongong and told people to make their ballot papers bullets and to send them my way. This week, Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce were nailing a coffin with the words ‘net zero’ on it. Is that calm political discussion, or is that something which is designed to increase tensions in the community?” Bowen said on Saturday.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Energy Minister Chris Bowen have been primary targets of One Nation’s ire. Dominic LorrimerJoyce was a member of the Nationals when he made the comments in July 2024. He has since apologised.“If Pauline Hanson wants to call for the debate to be calmed down, fine, but she could start with her herself,” Bowen said.Thorpe, who regularly spars with Hanson in the Senate, told this masthead that threats of violence against her spiked after altercations with the One Nation leader, and that she had turned to wearing disguises in public for fear of attack.“It’s been relentless. Regardless of who you are in any job, you’re there to represent the people. For your job to then include death threats or gang-rapes or any kind of violence should be completely unacceptable,” Thorpe said.The senator said that Hanson’s social media accounts had been home to numerous threats of violence against her from One Nation supporters, and that she had to refer the incidents to federal police.A post about Thorpe on Hanson’s Facebook page from February 2025 hosts dozens of comments calling for violence against the senator and questioning her Aboriginality. One which has remained on the page for over a year says the commenter would “finish the genocide job” if Thorpe entered their property, while two single word comments from a poster reads “Rope” and “Tree”.“I don’t condone any violence towards her or any politician, but you all need to check yourself on what you allow that creates violence against another politician,” Thorpe said.Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, Liberal backbencher Garth Hamilton and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young all said that Hanson’s claims were hypocritical, urging her to turn her attention to her own rhetoric.“This is a woman who has spent her entire career demonising people, trading in hate, and then she has the gall to call for others to be civil. It is hypocrisy. It is sheer hypocrisy. It is the most obvious political trick in the book to do something and then accuse others of doing it,” Hanson-Young told this masthead.Hanson argued that claims she is responsible for a sinking of political discourse were “victim-blaming”. In one social media post she highlighted graffiti in the regional Victorian city of Bendigo that read “kill Pauline Hanson” as a representation of Labor’s failure to police rhetoric.Hanson also said that the education system was to blame for some young people’s vitriol towards her. Before last month’s protests against One Nation by secondary and tertiary students, Joyce claimed that “socialist teachers” were encouraging students to participate, a claim dismissed by protest organisers.Australian Education Union president Correna Haythorpe said One Nation MPs should instead focus on the “enormous contribution” teachers make to educating and supporting students.“These comments are either a malevolent mischaracterisation of Australia’s education system for political gain, or a display of complete ignorance of how the teaching profession operates.”Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.From our partners