‘I have had enough': One Nation leader fiercely defends party's protest of Welcome to Country in Senate
The party leader and all three other One Nation senators turned their backs during the ceremony on Tuesday at the opening of parliament.
Ms Hanson, who has been vocal about her opposition to the ceremonies, has turned her back to the acknowledgment previously - but the rest of the party joining in made the incident one of the most significant protests of its kind to be staged in the chamber.
It also marked a dramatic start for newly elected One Nation Senators Warwick Stacey and Tyron Whittens, turning their backs in their first parliamentary session since being voted in.
Speaking from Canberra on Wednesday evening, Ms Hanson was pressed by Sky News host Chris Kenny on the incident, with his question 'why be so impolite?' triggering a strongly worded tirade from the senator.
'I haven't just done it recently, and it wasn't the first time yesterday, I've been doing it for the past three years," Ms Hanson stated.
She said the two new One Nation Senators to join her in the upper house shared her opinion, in that they had 'had a gutful' of acknowledgements regularly being done.
'I have had enough, and I do not want a Welcome to Country and to be disenfranchised from my own country that I was born here,' she told Chris Kenny.
Kenny said he agreed the ceremony was 'overdone' but pushed back saying he thought it was a good initiative in certain circumstances, such as the opening of Parliament, adding 'it's just polite'.
'Sorry, Chris ... I'm past being polite,' she hit back.
The party leader claimed the rituals were 'causing division' and said she was 'not turning my back on the Australian people'.
Kenny then pressed further, questioning the Senator about recognising traditional owners of the land at the opening of Parliament, asking her 'how is that not just polite and inclusive and a general recognition of our country's shared history?'
'Chris, this is not about the opening of Parliament. This happens every morning that Parliament is sitting,' she replied.
'I'm turning my back on these policies and ideologies that are dividing our nation and the tokenism that's going on.
'I've been speaking about this for the last 30 years and look at the state of this country. It's in one hell of a bloody mess. I'm not pulling a stunt, I'm sticking to my values and my principles and what I believe in.'
Meanwhile, One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts has claimed the party's constituents around the country have 'had a gutful' of the rituals, which he labelled 'token ceremonies'.
'They've had enough of being welcomed to their own country,' Mr Roberts told 2GB Sydney radio host Ben Fordham on Wednesday morning after being asked why the party turned their backs.
'And secondly, and very importantly, we care for Aboriginals. And what's happening with these token ceremonies is that they're ignoring the real plight of Aboriginals, which is real, and we care about that.'
Mr Roberts also suggested One Nation would continue to stage a protest to the acknowledgement 'every day' in the Senate.
Welcome to and Acknowledgements of Countries came under the microscope in the run-up to this year's federal election after former Opposition Leader Peter Dutton declared the ceremonies as being 'overdone'.
The comment was made during a Sky News debate in April, held just two days after the controversial disruption of the Melbourne Anzac Day dawn service when attendees booed a Welcome to Country.
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