Labor has accused One Nation leader Pauline Hanson of stoking division and violence through animated cartoons that depict attacks on foreign affairs minister Penny Wong. The party has defended its social media content, though it has admitted the material might not always be "in good taste".
The cartoons have drawn fresh scrutiny as parliament grapples with the safety of politicians following an alleged attack last week on Indi MP Helen Haines.
A 2022 episode of Hanson's Please Explain series shows Wong being killed by prime minister Anthony Albanese. She is portrayed slumped face-down over a desk, covered in blood, with a knife protruding from her back. In Hanson's Super Progressive Movie, released in February, Albanese beheads Wong while believing he is killing Hanson with an axe. After Wong's severed head falls to the floor, the One Nation leader quickly reveals she has been hiding nearby.
On Sunday, Australian federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett urged politicians to use respectful and cautious language. She drew a direct link between overheated political rhetoric, including the Hanson cartoons, and a rise in violent threats against politicians in Australia.
Wong was scathing in her response. "It tells you everything about One Nation that they are happy to keep depicting this kind of violence," she told Guardian Australia. "Australians deserve elected representatives who are working to improve their lives, instead of promoting division, violence and personal attacks."
A spokesperson for Hanson pointed to comments she made over the weekend, when she alleged that Labor and Liberal "dirt units" were already back at work after the Haines attack. "The Please Explain cartoons have nothing to do with the tragic attack on Helen Haines. They will not be going anywhere. Liberal and Labor politicians want our cartoons censored because they don't like the scrutiny," Hanson said.
On Monday, the creator of the cartoons, Mark Nicholson, declined to apologise for a separate episode that made light of Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie's health conditions. Hanson later apologised for that cartoon. Nicholson, who is also a One Nation candidate at the upcoming Victorian state election, told the ABC he wanted to target people with public profiles. "People who are powerful need to get a reality check," he said, adding that those in the public realm open themselves up to both praise and parody. "That's the price you pay."
One Nation's Victorian leader, Warren Pickering, defended the cartoons on Tuesday while agreeing with calls to lower the temperature of political debate. He said the series had "absolutely" not contributed to any deterioration, comparing it to the Looney Tunes characters Wile E Coyote and the Road Runner. "Cartoons are an expression of freedom of speech," he said.
Pickering conceded the cartoons would not always be in good taste or defensible, but said comedy helps draw attention to issues that people otherwise are not discussing. He argued the Lambie cartoon "raises dialogue on broader issues". To critics, he suggested they produce their own cartoons from the other side of politics. "We know Labor's a joke, but let's see if they can do comedy," he said.