Jacqui Lambie says Pauline Hanson has never personally apologised for a One Nation cartoon that mocked her vaginal prolapse, despite later expressing regret after the image triggered widespread backlash.
Speaking to ABC Insiders host David Speers on Sunday, Senator Lambie said Hanson had not contacted her directly about the controversy.
Hanson initially dismissed the criticism, telling Lambie to “lighten up”.
She later changed her position and asked the video’s creator to modify it in response to the public reaction.
The cartoon has since been removed from One Nation’s official YouTube channel.
Asked by Speers whether Hanson had contacted her personally, Lambie replied: “No, there has been no direct apology.”
Lambie indicated that the subsequent expression of regret had been driven by public anger rather than sincere remorse.
“The only reason she would have apologised [is] because I have a million people I can reach out to between my socials and mailouts and all the rest, because I’ve seen it coming through within a matter of hours, the people and the women out there going, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me. This is absolutely disgraceful’,” she said.
Jacqui Lambie (pictured) said Pauline Hanson had not offered her a personal apology
“But no, no apology. No apology, that’s fine. I can give and take, I’m not interested in apologies.”
Published last month, the cartoon showed Lambie supporting the government’s proposed digital duty of care, which is designed to improve online protections for children and give users more control over the material they see.
The video presented the proposed changes as an attack on free speech, with a caricature of Lambie declaring that One Nation’s animated Please Explain series “has gotta go”.
“Oh, I hear it’s funny sometimes,” a caricature of Senator Penny Wong responded.
“No, it’s not, plus I can’t laugh because of my prolapsed vagina,” the cartoon version of Lambie replied.
“Oh, don’t tell me they’ve made fun of that, have they?” a caricature of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
“No, that’d be very distasteful,” Lambie’s character responded.
During her ABC Insiders appearance, Lambie also delivered a broader criticism of Hanson, warning voters not to assume One Nation could quickly resolve Australia’s problems.
Lambie said Hanson (pictured) could not solve the issues most important to voters
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Asked about her relationship with Hanson, Lambie answered bluntly: “I don’t have a relation with Pauline Hanson.”
Although she said she worked well with One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts, Lambie acknowledged that dealing with Hanson had been challenging when the pair shared the balance of power.
“I’ve worked with Pauline in the past. When we had the balance of power, we found that very, very difficult from an office point of view,” she said.
“She’ll tell you she’s doing one thing and that’s five minutes beforehand, and then you walk into the Senate to take your vote and she’s on the other side. For me there was too much flip-flopping going on.”
Lambie also urged voters not to turn to One Nation simply because of mounting financial pressure and frustration with the major parties.
Speers asked what was behind the increase in support for Hanson’s party.
“People are angry. They’re under financial strain,” Lambie said.
“When you’re under financial strain and your head is full of fog and you can’t think properly and you have all that pressure on you, you do really, really silly things and you don’t think about things properly.”
One Nation faced criticism after its cartoon mocked Jacqui Lambie’s vaginal prolapse
She said economic hardship was contributing to political instability, but warned voters not to expect Hanson to provide simple solutions.
“If you think Pauline Hanson can step in tomorrow, run the country and fix all your problems overnight, you are terribly disillusioned,” Lambie said.
Speers referred to Lambie’s repeated calls for political leaders to “dial the temperature down” and asked whether political debate had changed during her parliamentary career.
Lambie said public anger had intensified since the pandemic, with social media adding to the tension.
“There is a lot of aggro going on out there in the normal streets and that is enough. So can we just please calm that down?” she said.
While acknowledging that she had sometimes contributed to heated political exchanges, Lambie called for greater attention to policy and less emphasis on personal attacks.
“What we need right now, times are tough, and if we need anything right now, it’s unity,” she said.
“We are the top office in this country and we must lead by example. Stop the one-liners, come out with policies. Have proper real debate up there.”
