Updated ,first published
Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has delivered a blistering rebuke of Pauline Hanson, accusing the One Nation leader of “wilful ignorance” after she described Indigenous Australians as “the most primitive race on earth”.
Price, a prominent Indigenous voice within the Coalition, said Hanson had crossed the line in attacking Australia’s First Peoples and warned that legitimate debates about Indigenous affairs should not be dragged into “appalling territory”.
The remarks have triggered fresh backlash against the Queensland senator, who is already under pressure to apologise for accusations that former SAS solider Andrew Hastie was a “traitor” for acting as a witness against accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith and criticising Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s mother for her long stint in public housing.
“All decent Australians, I’m sure, would condemn such comments and would rightfully be shocked that they came from the leader of a political party,” Price said in a statement on social media.
“Some of the issues raised by Pauline Hanson are serious debates, many of which I have been very vocal about, but yet again, Senator Hanson has dragged the conversation into appalling territory.”
Her comments come after remarks Hanson made during a September 2025 appearance on the little-known JJ Podcast resurfaced on subscription television news channel News24, formerly Sky News Australia, on Monday.
Asked about teaching Indigenous languages and culture in schools, Hanson said a teacher had contacted her claiming the state was “not teaching Australian history about civil rights” and that it was “actually all leaning towards … teaching about Aboriginal culture and language”.
She pointed to the absence of inventions such as the wheel and dismissed Indigenous rock paintings before declaring: “You know, supposedly 60,000 years … There was nothing there. What are we actually holding up? A few, you know, rock paintings. Sorry, they’re the most primitive race on earth.”
“What the hell have they done in this country?” Hanson said.
Price’s intervention carries particular political weight, given she has in the past been speculated as a defector to Hanson’s right-wing populist party.
The Alice Springs-based Price has been a vocal critic of aspects of Indigenous policy and has repeatedly argued for difficult conversations about Indigenous disadvantage, culture and government programs.
But she drew a clear line at Hanson’s comments, accusing the One Nation leader of failing to understand the complex issues.
Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said Hanson’s slurs were “totally outrageous and completely racist” and called for her to apologise.
“We all know Senator Hanson has form speaking against minority groups, speaking against workers, speaking against parents who take their children to childcare, speaking against people who are living and people who are not living,” she told reporters.
“She has no respect whatsoever. I certainly feel for First Nations people in regards to the comments made by Senator Hanson. It’s totally outrageous, completely racist, but also divides our country in a way we don’t want to see.”
Independent Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe said Hanson’s comments were false, disappointing and harmful.
“We have generations – thousands of generations of knowledge of this country. We’re the first scientists, agriculturists, we maintained and sustained our land and our water, and our totems, for thousands of generations, and we’re still continuing to do that,” she told ABC.
“Aboriginal people have been putting our hands out to the rest of the people in this country, wanting to share the real knowledge, the fabric of this nation and what it’s really about, and want everyone in this country to be a part of that.”
Hastie, a Liberal MP who has led the Coalition’s recent attacks on One Nation, said Hanson’s Donald Trump-inspired “MAGA-fication” of Australian politics was “toxic and nasty”.
“It looks like she’s copying directly from the Donald Trump playbook,” he said. “But Australians won’t put up with it, and families are off limits when it comes to politics.”
Hanson reposted the full clip on her X account following the initial coverage, saying the media was “in a tailspin again” about her comments.
Rob Harris is the national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age based in Canberra. He is a former Europe correspondent.Connect via email.From our partners
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