In Brief
- Pauline Hanson has been asked about comments she made in 2017 praising Vladimir Putin.
- The One Nation leader also insisted again that she doesn't support the White Australia policy.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says she's "totally opposed" to the war in Ukraine, but did not say whether she still believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "strong man".
The right-wing leader was in Perth on Tuesday addressing a business breakfast after returning from Europe, where she faced scrutiny after holidaying in an Italian resort town with mining magnate Gina Rinehart, attending a luxury fashion show and speaking on a podcast with controversial far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
SBS News asked Hanson at a press conference on the sidelines of the business event whether she stood by her comments in 2017 praising Putin as a leader who had gained the respect of his country.
During the 2017 ABC Insiders interview, Hanson described Putin as a "patriotic" leader who was "doing so well for his country".
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"Even people here in Australia were saying, 'I wish we had a leader like that here in Australia. I wish someone would stand up and fight for this country,'" she told the program.
"I think he's a strong man."
She also questioned his involvement in the downing of flight MH17, asking: "Have you got the proof he did it? Did he push the button?"
When asked about the comments on Tuesday, Hanson said: "I don't like what Putin has done in the invasion of Ukraine. I'm totally opposed to that."
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with more than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians killed so far, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, in a move against international law.
Putin has since been issued an arrest warrant by the world court for the 'unlawful deportation' of Ukrainian children in 2023. The Kremlin has rejected the accusation.
One Nation has been under separate scrutiny after comments, first reported by Nine newspapers, by its Queensland senator Malcolm Roberts on a 2025 podcast, in which he said: "When I look at the Ukraine war, I see Putin as standing up to the globalists and earning my respect for doing so. He knows what’s going on in Ukraine and it's a war against the globalists."
Hanson praises Rinehart for 'doing it tough'
About three dozen uniformed and plain clothes police were deployed around and inside the Crown resort complex in Perth, where the One Nation leader was speaking.
About 200 protesters were out the front chanting "we say no to white Australia".
Hanson again denied advocating for the return of the White Australia policy after citing the discriminatory immigration scheme in an interview with Robinson during her European trip.
"I have never advocated for the White Australia policy," she said.
On the podcast, Hanson was asked by Robinson how Australia had ended up with "Pakistanis, Somalis, all of these African problems with violent Africans," and she said it started with the end of the White Australia Policy.
The postwar wave of migrants was different to today's situation because the new arrivals "really assimilated' and "learned to speak English", she said.
The White Australia policy was a set of laws, starting with the Immigration Restriction Act 1901, that limited non-British migration to Australia.
The policy never mentioned "white" or "race" explicitly, but its application was a tool of racial exclusion, aimed at keeping Australia British and limiting non-white — particularly Asian — immigration.
Hanson's European holiday has prompted questions over who paid the bill for the trip, which the senator says came at no cost to the taxpayer.
Quizzed over her friendship with Rinehart, Australia's richest person, Hanson said her friend was a "very smart, clever woman" who helped the economy.
"This is a woman that's done it tough ... and you think that she's come with a silver spoon? She didn't," she said.
"She had to borrow everything and was flat out in the very start to pay the bills. She's built up that company."
— With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
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