Pauline Hanson insists her epic eye-roll during a colleague's first speech to parliament was a sign of embarrassment, not disrespect.
The One Nation leader rolled her eyes and shook her head as Malcolm Roberts paid tribute to "our Pauline, the people's politician" on Tuesday night.
Video of the incident was widely shared on social media.
Now she's taken to Facebook to hit out at "narrow-minded" media outlets.
"I wasn't rolling my eyes out of disrespect to Malcolm's kind words, I was simply embarrassed.
"After 20 years of having most people in the public eye slander and take pot shots, I guess I don't take compliments too well."
Senator Roberts has also taken to social media to hit back at Greens senators who refused to shake his hand after the speech, as is customary.
Only one of the nine Greens, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, got up to congratulate him.
"If I upset the Greens then I hit my target," he tweeted.
He thanked Senator Whish-Wilson for respecting the institution of the Senate.
Liberal frontbencher James McGrath said the behaviour of the Greens was disappointing and "just plain rudeness".
"You don't have to agree with someone to be civil towards them," he told reporters in Canberra.
Senator Roberts, a vocal climate change denier, used his first speech to urge Australia to leave the United Nations and lash out against climate change scaremongering.
He likened himself to the Greek philosopher Socrates, asking questions to get to the truth, and vowed to stand firm against "extremist advocates" in parliament who wanted to de-industrialise the nation.
The controversial senator also called for a new people's bank, describing the international banking sector as one of the "greatest threats to our liberty and life as we know it".
Government had become a "beast" that only wished to control people's lives and tax people, he said.
Senator Hanson will make her highly-anticipated first speech to the Senate on Wednesday afternoon, 20 years after her maiden speech to parliament as the member for Oxley made headlines.
