In amongst the conspiracy theories and climate denialism, new One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts used his first speech in Parliament to recite an ode to his political leader Pauline Hanson, sparing nothing when it came to praise for “our Pauline”:

“Finally, no one can show testimony to my belief in the enduring power of human nature more than the great Pauline Hanson. With the indulgence of this chamber and with the Senator’s permission, I will refer to her as everyone knows — Pauline. Our Pauline, the people’s politician — she is one of us, and we are just like her. She is a woman of great courage to whom I owe being able to stand here today. Pauline listens to understand and is honest, courageous and persistent. Twenty years ago, Pauline, the Establishment ridiculed you. At the same time they quietly started implementing some of your policies. Thank you for saying what you have said and for giving a voice to the forgotten people, and for showing that we really do matter.”

While he said this, the camera panned to Hanson herself as she rolled her eyes and seemed quite put out by the platitudes, but in a Facebook post yesterday, Hanson clarified why she looked so unhappy. It’s not her colleague’s fault, but “narrow minded media outlets”.

“I wasn’t rolling my eyes out of disrespect to Malcolm’s kind words, I was simply embarrassed,” she wrote.

“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.”

Pauline Hanson facebook post