Hastie rules out legal action against Hanson as bitter war of words escalates

Politicians from all sides of parliament have united to criticise Pauline Hanson over a cartoon video calling Liberal MP Andrew Hastie a traitor.

The pair have been ensnared in a war of words over a cartoon video Hanson paid for and shared on social media on July 24 that depicts and refers to Hastie as a traitor on eight occasions.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said it is wrong for the cartoon to remain on social media.

“She should take it down. Andrew Hastie has served this country with distinction as an officer in the SAS. She should take it down,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“In the end, this is not a question of legality, this is a question of morality.”

Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie, who is also a veteran, was visibly furious about the “absolutely disgusting” cartoon and called for it to be deleted.

“Attacking Andrew Hastie, a veteran that has served in our Afghanistan war, or any other veteran, is the lowest ebb you can possibly do. That woman is nothing less than a bloody coward, she always has been, and she always will be. She wouldn’t last one day in that goddamn uniform,” she told the ABC.

“Any veteran out there thinking about voting for One Nation or standing for them, I tell you what, you had better think twice.”

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And Greens Senator David Shoebridge said it is “pretty f------ disgraceful” to attack Hastie.

“Disagree with pretty much everything that comes out of Hastie’s mouth, like his whole suite of policies are things that I tend to tend to oppose,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“But for the life of me, I can’t work out how any political party can stand by an attack on somebody because they go into court, and they tell the truth as they understand it. And doing it in circumstances where you’re facing a whole bunch of pressure and the idea that you make that your political attack on somebody.”

It comes as Hastie claims he is being targeted by Hanson over 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.

Hastie called for Hanson to explain herself or delete the social media post, which the One Nation leader brushed off as a miscommunication during a News24 interview on Wednesday.

“He’s talking about a cartoon, a satirical cartoon,” she said.

“Actually, it wasn’t even over Ben Roberts-Smith, because when he actually told his constituency that he would vote against the Labor Party’s hate speech laws, and then he did end up voting with it. That’s when people on his own page called him a traitor for that.”

Hanson added that she would not heed Hastie’s request to take down the social media post.

Hastie said Hanson’s refusal showed that she was “weak and glass jawed”.

He also called her hypocritical after she was “crying rivers” for Gina Rinehart over a satirical video aired on the ABC, for which the ABC later apologised.

“I’ve given her an opportunity to demonstrate to Australians that she could be a prime minister and accept that she’s wrong. What’s she done? She’s doubled down into cartoons and memes,” he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

“This is Parliament House with serious people, and the decisions we make here have consequences for millions of Australians.

“She’s not up to the job of leading this nation, and I think the last 24 hours has made that very clear.”

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Despite vowing to fight Hanson, Hastie said he would not consider taking legal action against her because he does not want to fight a long, drawn-out litigation.

“Why would I take legal action when she’s backed by Australia’s richest person? I’m not a wealthy person,” he said.

“But I will impose cost politically, and that’s what I’m doing today.”

Hastie and Hanson’s battle escalated following a recent front-page newspaper story about One Nation targeting Hastie’s Western Australian seat of Canning.

The MP responded saying he would not take slander from Hanson, particularly after she called him a traitor.

Hanson denied ever making the remark to The West Australian, but added that she would “call him a wanker”.