Arabic version: هانسون تقدم اعتذارات مشروطة عن تصريحاتها في بودكاست

According to The Guardian, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson offered qualified apologies to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indigenous Australians after comments that had been widely condemned. Hanson spoke to journalists in the press gallery corridor about 10 minutes after an interview on News24.

Hanson said she did not believe her comments about Albanese’s mother were derogatory, saying she had been referring to housing commission at the time. “So if he’s taken offence to it, well, I’m sorry for that,” she said.

Asked about her comments referring to Indigenous Australians as the “most primitive race”, Hanson said she wanted accountability from governments and politicians and said the issue should not be used as a political football. She added: “If I’ve offended people by using that [word], yes, I will apologise for that.”

The live coverage also reported that the National Disability Insurance Agency announced voluntary redundancies for the first time since its creation. In parliament, Albanese criticised a question from Liberal MP Simon Kennedy about a fundraiser, saying the opposition had moved “from questions without notice, to smears without notice.”

During question time, Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler said savings linked to the private health insurance rebate for people over 65 would go into aged care. Housing Minister Clare O’Neil said the federal budget would support up to an additional 30,000 homes over the next decade as productivity-enhancing reforms flow through to the housing market.