‘Had a gutful': Pauline Hanson clashes with Sky News host over Acknowledgement of Country snub
Ms Hanson and the three other One Nation Senators — Malcolm Roberts and newly elected Warwick Stacey and Tyron Whitten — all turned their back on the Indigenous ceremony during the opening of parliament on Tuesday.
The One Nation leader has previously turned her back on the Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country, as debate grows over their use in a wide range of settings from classrooms and official ceremonies to corporate events and sporting matches.
Ms Hanson spoke to Kenny from Canberra on Wednesday night, with the host asking, 'Why be so impolite?'
'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 said.
'The other two Senators that have now joined me, they are of the same opinion. They have had a gutful of this welcome to parliament on the floor every morning, plus also around the country.'
Tuesday marked the first time Mr Roberts had joined his leader in turning his back.
Ms Hanson claimed the reaction from the public on social media had been 'overwhelming'.
'People are actually saying, 'Good on you, you're standing up for us, we're fed up with this, we voted against the Voice, we don't want this, it's overdone,'' she said.
'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.'
Kenny pushed back, telling Ms Hanson, 'I know you'll get a lot of support for this, I know I'll get a lot of criticism for my stance'.
'I agree that the Welcome to Country is overdone,' he said.
'It's ridiculous how often we see it at the start of various meetings and online forums and the like, but I think it's a really good initiative in the right place at the right time — the start of the Grand Final, the start of some Indigenous events.'
Kenny argued 'surely a place when you're opening parliament and getting down to proceedings, it's just a respectful way to acknowledge the land that we all live on and the people that were here first and the culture that is ongoing'.
'It's just polite,' he said.
'Sorry, Chris, no,' Ms Hanson said. 'I'm past being polite when I feel disenfranchised from my own country.
Kenny asked, 'How are you disenfranchised just to recognise our history?'
Ms Hanson argued 'we see it go further than that' with 'kids being indoctrinated in the educational system' and Indigenous people granted 'more rights over the land than the Australian people'.
'This is causing division; it's divisive,' she said.
'I'm not turning my back on the Australian people. That's why I'm doing it and that's why Australians are backing me, because you've got someone with the guts to actually stand up and say we've had enough of this. Governments will keep feeding this division if someone doesn't stand up to it.'
Kenny reiterated that 'a lot of this stuff is overdone and of course there are Indigenous activists who over-claim', but again asked why a simple Acknowledgement to open parliament was 'not just polite and inclusive and a general recognition of our country's shared history'.
'Chris, this is not about the opening of parliament,' Ms Hanson said.
'This happens every morning parliament is sitting … as other people, even the street sweeper, the council worker, he had a gutful because it's before they go out and do their job. This is bloody ridiculous. So whether it's his job or my job, I'm saying I'm fed up of putting up with it as well.'
She insisted 'it's not being disrespectful'.
'I'm not turning my back on Australians, I'm turning my back on these policies and ideologies that are dividing our nation and the tokenism that's going on,' she said.
'It's about time. 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. I want to see a united country as one nation.'
Ms Hanson went on to insist the Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country were a recent invention.
'That was introduced by Ernie Dingo in the 1970s, it is not a custom of the Aboriginal people, that's rubbish,' she said.
'Sure, but it's a nice idea and it's inclusive,' Kenny replied. 'I believe it's sad that you're doing that.'
But Kenny agreed that the case of Darebin Council worker Shaun Turner highlighted where 'that overreach is so damaging because people are doing too much of this stuff, you get a backlash now where people want none of it'.
'I think that's very sad,' he said.
During the election campaign, former opposition leader Peter Dutton had taken aim at the ceremonies, calling them overdone.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday said the Welcome to Country was 'not controversial today, nor should it be'.
'What a Welcome to Country does is hold out, like a hand warmly and graciously extended, an opportunity for us to embrace and to show a profound love of home and country,'' Mr Albanese said, per The Australian.
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