Bob Katter says he told Fraser Anning "again and again" to stop making racist comments but in the end he had to kick Anning out of his party.
The self-described "firebrand" senator is now an independent after he was given the boot from Katter's Australian Party on Thursday.
"It's deeply painful for me, he's a bloke I like very much, and I've got immense respect for," Mr Katter told reporters in Canberra on Friday.
"And 99 per cent of the time he's been solid gold, and that one per cent he just would not desist.
"Our party is an anti-racist party and he's making comments that are racist."
In a statement on Thursday night, Senator Anning said he was disappointed to find out he had been kicked out of the party.
"No one even had the courtesy to inform me in advance," Senator Anning said.
Mr Katter said he tried to contact Senator Anning, but so far had been unsuccessful.
"I dread talking to him because I feel so terrible about it. But he was told again and again to stop and he wouldn't stop," Mr Katter said.
Senator Anning used his maiden speech to call for a plebiscite on banning Muslim immigration, and also called for a European Christian migration program.
"How can calling for a popular vote ever be racist?" Senator Anning said.
"Democracy is not racist."
Senator Anning also said he was never told to keep quiet about his European immigration plans.
"I would have refused and simply quit KAP," he said.
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