Australia’s defence minister Richard Marles says One Nation’s “traitor” name calling of Andrew Hastie was “extremely tasteless” and has called for Pauline Hanson to remove a cartoon mocking him.
Mr Hastie, a former SAS captain, had publicly called out the party’s satirical “Please Explain” cartoon this week which called him a “traitor” on eight occasions for testifying against Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith.
Both Senator Hanson and her high-profile MP Barnaby Joyce had initially denied calling the Canning MP a “traitor” which prompted a further feud as Mr Hastie accused the duo of being “lying cowards”.
The One Nation leader poured cold water on the issue late on Wednesday, posting a brief statement across her social media: “I think everyone just needs to take a chill pill.”
Mr Marles publicly defended his Liberal opponent’s service record in several media appearances on Friday morning — saying Mr Hastie had proudly served his country, insisted he deserved respect and “most definitely is not a traitor”.
The senior Labor Minister said using the word “traitor” for a man who has “given enormous service to this country” was not just an individual attack but “an affront to all veterans” in Australia.
“It’s very much an affront to Andrew Hastie but I think it’s actually an affront to all veterans,” he said.
“I think to use that word in respect of a veteran is extremely tasteless. It’s an insult to all veterans.
“I very much honour the service that Andrew Hastie has given to our country. He deserves our respect and he deserves to be honoured.
“It’s distasteful, it’s inappropriate, it should come down and Pauline Hanson should apologise.”
Mr Marles’ defence echoed the sentiment expressed by the Returned and Services League who deemed it a “slur” and a “very, very serious claim”.
“No veteran ever deserves to be called a traitor,” RSL National President Peter Tinley — a former senior WA Labor Minister — said.
On top of the “chill pill” social post, Senator Hanson shared a compilation of the cartoon series on Friday and thanked Mr Hastie for the attention he had drawn to it.
“Thanks to Andrew Hastie the cartoons have made the news again. So while we have your attention, here are the ten best episodes, hand-picked by the creators,” she wrote on X.
One Nation Senator Sean Bell backed his leader, stating the minor party had nothing to apologise for and that Mr Hastie had started the fight between the two conservatives.
“People should go and watch the cartoon because I think in it there’s a lot of very insightful things,” he said on Friday.
“Mr Hastie has been looking to have a fight and a conflict with One Nation for a long, long time. And this is just a continuation of his issues with One Nation.
“That cartoon has been out for a very long time. He has simply chosen this week to come into parliament, to do the rounds on media, to make things not about veterans but himself.”
Mr Joyce had the day prior apologised to Mr Hastie.
“Mr Hastie feels great umbrage about it. And for that, I apologise,” he said.
“I don’t believe Mr Hastie is a traitor. That’s an absurdity. He’s not.
“Nothing to do with me, but I apologise, and I respect his service, like I respect my family’s service, and anybody else who served this nation.”
Independent Senator Jacquie Lambie, who is also an Army veteran, on Thursday let rip at the One Nation leader, branding her a “bloody maggot” and saying the cartoon was “absolutely disgusting”.
“Anybody that hides behind a cartoon and goes after a veteran and calls him a traitor, a paranoid traitor, and a washed-up, gutless maggot. I have to say you’re a bloody maggot yourself and you’re a coward,” she told News24.
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