Make ‘em laugh: How One Nation uses comedy to normalise harmful ideas

One Nation's satirical animated series, "Please Explain", has sparked controversy with an episode that labelled Western Australian Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie a "traitor". The episode, titled "Don't Be Hastie", depicted Hastie testifying against alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith and supporting Labor's "evil hate speech legislation".

Hastie responded fiercely, calling One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce "lying cowards" and demanding they delete the video or explain why he and other veterans are being called traitors. Tasmanian senator and former soldier Jacqui Lambie also condemned the episode, describing it as "absolutely disgusting" and calling Hanson "nothing less than a bloody coward".

The episode highlights the role of humour in contemporary far-right politics, according to The Conversation AU. The incident has brought together Labor, the Coalition, Greens, and the crossbench in criticism of One Nation.

Brief written by urgent.news from Crikey, The Conversation AU — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.