Hanson calling Hastie a traitor may have created her great nemesis

Even given Pauline Hanson’s brand of offensive and divisive politicking, One Nation’s social media description of Liberal MP Andrew Hastie as a traitor crossed a line.

Her slur has antecedents in West Australian parish pump politics, but there are national ramifications: she unwittingly bolstered his stocks as the hard man to keep One Nation at bay in the Coalition heartland.

An SAS veteran who served three tours in the Middle East, including two in Afghanistan, Hastie was among the 21 veterans compelled to testify in the 2022 Federal Court defamation trial brought by Ben Roberts-Smith. The Victoria Cross recipient had accused Nine newspapers of defaming him in reports that he had committed murder during deployments to Afghanistan.

In April this year, Roberts-Smith was arrested and charged with five counts of war crimes of murder. He vehemently denies the allegations.

Roberts-Smith is a hero to many in the nation’s west and has wealthy supporters. They include mining magnate Gina Rinehart, who also backs Pauline Hanson.

With the Liberals in turmoil earlier this year, Hastie, the MHR for the southern Perth seat of Canning, surfaced briefly as a leadership contender and One Nation enemy. Hanson declared a war of words on him and doubled down after her party’s unexpected state byelection win last month in Secret Harbour, which overlaps with Canning.

Hanson allowed a video to be posted on social media referring to Hastie as a “traitor” and “gutless maggot”, regarding his evidence against Roberts-Smith in the defamation trial.

Living up to Samuel Johnson’s aphorism that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, Hanson has refused to pull the offending post, saying it was satire. It also traduces Diggers and risks a battlefield behaviour standard that destroys military honour.

Battle-hardened, Hastie drew a bead on Hanson: “Now I’m calling time on cowards who have never served a day in the Australian Defence Force attacking my service record, my integrity and my loyalty to Australia. I gave 12 years, eight months to the Australian Defence Force. I deployed twice on combat operations to Afghanistan. I left my wife at home, knowing that I might not return. And then to be called a traitor by One Nation … well, they’ve picked a fight with the wrong veteran.”

Hanson looks ridiculous. Even her star recruit, Barnaby Joyce, knew calling Hastie a traitor was beyond the pale. “Nothing to do with me, but I apologise.”

Hastie has displayed a kind of grace under pressure unusual in today’s politics, where offensiveness has been normalised to the degree that many do not seem to notice.

As others on the conservative side of politics attempt to find ways to take on Hanson while ingratiating themselves to her supporters, and fail on both counts, it is refreshing to hear Hastie speak plainly about Hanson, her policies and her offensive tactics.

Obviously, it’s in his personal interest, too, given he’s on the back foot in Canning, but Hastie has a history of showing a level of courage that other politicians lack.

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