‘Lying cowards’: Liberal MP Andrew Hastie takes aim at Pauline Hanson over ‘traitor’ claim

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has escalated his war of words against One Nation, calling Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce “lying cowards” for denying they ever called him a traitor.

Hitting back at a front-page newspaper story about One Nation targeting Hastie’s Western Australian seat of Canning, the Special Air Service regiment veteran on Tuesday said he would not take slander from Hanson and Joyce.

Hanson has told The West Australian that she never made the traitor remark.

“I’ve never called him a traitor. I will call him a wanker,” she told the newspaper.

Joyce backed her account on Wednesday and said Hanson never called him a traitor.

But Hastie produced a print-out of Hanson’s social media post from July 24, which is still pinned to her account, of a cartoon video to reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

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The video in question depicts and refers to Hastie as a traitor on eight occasions.

“Today, I’m calling them lying cowards,” he told reporters.

“I’m calling on Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce to either own this, don’t be weak, don’t be cowards, own it, and explain why I’m a traitor and why other veterans are traitors, or delete it.

“Your choice.”

Hastie, a former SAS captain, says One Nation is actively targeting his seat of Canning because of the court evidence he gave against former Special Air Service veteran Ben Roberts-Smith in his failed defamation bid against Nine, the publisher of this website.

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Decorated former soldier Roberts-Smith was in April charged with murdering or ordering the murders of five unarmed detainees while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

Roberts-Smith has not entered pleas to any of the charges but has previously categorically rejected the allegations and said he would use any possible upcoming trial to clear his name.

Hastie has vowed to stand up against One Nation in Canning.

“I’m not worried about losing my seat. I’m worried about being called a traitor after serving my country,” he said.

“I’m going to fight very hard, and they picked a fight with the wrong veteran. They thought I’d just lie down and cop it.”