Australia’s race discrimination commissioner has called on Pauline Hanson to apologise following inflammatory comments she made about Australian Muslims, as criticism mounts from across the political spectrum.
The One Nation leader sparked backlash after questioning whether there were “good Muslims” during a Sky News appearance on Monday night, where she discussed Australian women and children detained in Syria seeking to return home.
Australia’s race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, said Hanson’s remarks unfairly targeted Muslim communities and risked deepening division.
He said he was reluctant to amplify such statements but believed they required a response.
“Comments that single out and diminish any community have real and lasting impacts,” he said.
“Australia’s Muslim communities, like all our communities, deserve to feel safe, respected and included. Public figures have a responsibility to elevate our national conversation, not inflame tensions, divide us or undermine the dignity of others.”
Sivaraman called on Hanson to withdraw her remarks and issue an apology.
Hanson’s comments came during a discussion about Australians detained in Syria, where she accused members of the group of hating westerners. She challenged the idea that there were “good Muslims”, asking how anyone could make that distinction.
The remarks prompted condemnation from senior political figures, including Nationals senator Matt Canavan, who described the comments as “totally un-Australian”.
“This statement from Pauline was divisive, inflammatory,” Canavan said. “For someone to say of all those Australians who are Muslim that there’s no good people among them clearly goes too far.”
He added that her refusal to apologise demonstrated poor judgment and said she was unfit to lead a major political party if she would not correct statements that insult hundreds of thousands of Australians.
On Wednesday morning, Hanson offered a conditional apology during an ABC radio interview, saying she was sorry if she had offended people who did not support sharia law, multiple marriages or extremist ideologies. Later that day, when pressed on Sky News about whether the overwhelming majority of Australian Muslims were “good people”, Hanson said she could not guarantee that, referencing the number of individuals on the national security watchlist. She again issued a conditional apology.
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, described Hanson’s intervention as racist and defended Muslim communities across the state.
“New South Wales is full of wonderful Australians of Muslim faith who care about our country, are a big part of its future and have contributed enormously to our place and standing today,” he said.
Bilal El-Hayek, mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown council, criticised Hanson for attempting to inflame tensions at a time when unity was needed. He said the region was proudly multicultural and multi-faith, with residents living harmoniously regardless of background or belief.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor defended Muslim Australians when asked about the remarks but stopped short of directly criticising Hanson, saying he knew many good Muslims in his electorate.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese said Hanson consistently promoted division rather than solutions.
“It certainly is prejudice. And it is division that doesn’t provide any solutions. All that it does is pit Australian against Australian,” he said.
The minister for multicultural affairs, Anne Aly, also condemned the comments, warning against fear-based politics that divide communities into “good” and “bad”.
Hanson’s remarks come as she challenges a court ruling that found she racially discriminated against Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi in a social media post telling her to “pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan” following criticism of the British Empire after Queen Elizabeth’s death. The court found the comments breached racial discrimination laws.
Faruqi said the ruling sent a strong message that hate speech is not protected as free speech and that racism would be held accountable.
Hanson has faced previous criticism over comments and actions targeting Muslim communities, including wearing a burqa in the Senate chamber last year, which led to her suspension for seven days.
The controversy unfolds amid renewed attention on One Nation’s political momentum, with the party polling strongly ahead of upcoming state elections.
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