Far-right leader sparks outrage with 'primitive' Indigenous comments

One Nation party leader Pauline Hanson has caused an outcry in Australia with racist comments about the country's indigenous peoples.

Sydney, Australia - Australian far-right leader Pauline Hanson drew outrage on Monday for comments in which she described the country's Indigenous people as the "most primitive race on Earth".

For years a political outsider, Hanson's One Nation has surged this year to become one of the country's most popular parties, according to opinion polls.

In a podcast appearance last year that resurfaced in the media on Monday, the senator for the state of Queensland was asked about the teaching of Indigenous Australian history in school.

"What the hell have they done in this country for, you know, supposedly 60,000 years?" she said.

"They never invented the wheel. There was nothing there. What are we actually holding up?

"A few, you know, rock paintings. Sorry, they're the most primitive race on Earth.

Hanson's remarks swiftly drew condemnation, with the country's Indigenous affairs minister Malarndirri McCarthy describing them as "completely racist" and "outrageous".

And fellow Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price -- who is also of Indigenous heritage -- said she was "disappointed".

"All decent Australians, I'm sure, would condemn such comments and would rightfully be shocked that they came from the leader of a political party," she said on Facebook.

"Some of the issues raised by Pauline Hanson are serious debates, many of which I have been very vocal about, but yet again, Senator Hanson has dragged the conversation into appalling territory."

Indigenous peoples, whose ancestors have lived on the continent for more than 60,000 years, have average life expectancies about eight years shorter than the rest of the population.

Several factors contribute to the disparity, with chronic health issues, higher poverty rates, more limited access to healthcare in some communities and complex socio-economic causes often blamed.

Indigenous people are also far more likely to be incarcerated or die in custody than other Australians.