Hanson’s personal attacks and offensive comments are straight out of the populist playbook. But they come with risks

The latest round of media attention on One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has focused on a string of controversial comments she has made, two of which were very personal in nature, and all of which have caused offence in some way.

The first of these was against Liberal frontbencher and decorated former soldier Andrew Hastie.

In a cartoon from One Nation’s long-running series “Please Explain”, Hastie was referred to several times as a “traitor”.

One Nation has been targeting Hastie for some time over his testimony against former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, who is facing criminal proceedings for alleged war crimes.

Read more: Make ‘em laugh: how One Nation uses comedy to normalise harmful ideas It also emerged Hanson had made disparaging comments about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s mother on Karl Stefanovic’s podcast in February.

Hanson made mock crying gestures and criticised Albanese’s mother for a lack of work ethic for spending decades living in public housing, without acknowledging the debilitating rheumatoid arthritis she suffered.

On a separate podcast in September 2025, Hanson also made derogatory remarks that labelled First Nations people “the most primitive race on Earth” among a range of other pejorative statements.

These attacks drew rebukes from across the political spectrum .

While attacking opponents can be seen as part and parcel of party politics, Hanson is following a working directly from the right-wing populist playbook in going crass and personal.

Us vs them A key component of populist-radical right cut-through comes from transgressing norms of communication.

Traditional politicians tend to present in a polished manner with carefully crafted communications.

Populists, however, use crass, blunt messaging and overall “ bad manners ” to cut through to a public jaded with the traditional political establishment.

Read more: Grattan on Friday: it’s taken Hanson’s overreach on Hastie to put some spine into Liberals US President Donald Trump is the quintessential exemplar of this style.

From giving his opponents insluting nicknames such as “Crooked Hillary”, “Sleepy Joe Biden” and “Pochahontas”, to physically mocking a disabled reporter, Trump popularised using not just an outspoken style, but one that deliberately mocks and demeans opponents.