Aboriginal people used to kill and eat their babies and elders like livestock.

Australia is at risk of being swamped by Asians.

Islam is a disease that Australia needs to eradicate.

The WHO is using COVID to take away the rights of Australians.

These offensive, incorrect and incredibly racist sentiments would fit neatly in 1940s Germany and yet they stand as the legacy of the leader of the One Nation Party, Pauline Hanson.

Throughout her time in the Australian Parliament, Ms Hanson has jumped from issue to issue to try and muster enough votes across the country to further her populist and radical agenda.

She has stoked and exploited the fears of "the others" across white Australia for decades to mixed success.

Now for her next trick, she's taking aim at the referendum proposed by Anthony Albanese for constitutional recognition of Indigenous people in our country.

In a press release issued by the Senator for Queensland, Ms Hanson stated that her party will "spearhead the campaign for the 'no' vote in the coming referendum".

Like most reasonable people, I recognise that the Voice and constitutional recognition is an important conversation to be having. It has the opportunity to represent the very best of our country as we have an earnest discussion about our national journey towards meaningful reconciliation.

As part of any debate, it is understandable there will be a spectrum of opinions which we should listen to.

Our country will only land at a positive outcome if the conversation is calm, considered and approached with the full understanding about our history and our hopes for a shared future.

The trouble with Ms Hanson, is that she is none of these things.

She is not calm, she is not considered, and not only does she have a trouble understanding when her own birthday is but time and time again she has ignorantly misrepresented our nation's history.

By seeking to "spearhead the campaign for the 'no' vote" she isn't doing it for any other reason than trying to find something new to be populist about. She and her party thrive on the idea of being extreme and indulge in stunts in absence of any real concrete policy that they've developed in the decades that they have existed.

None of us should take issue with people who present opposite views to us, democracy thrives on debate, considered opposing views and differences of opinion.

The trouble comes when individuals seek to fabricate issues and then exploit base fears in context of those issues.

Given Ms Hanson's history, we should anticipate that she will continue this fringe approach towards what should be an important, earnest and honest conversation across our country.

I personally have very little confidence in Ms Hanson's capabilities or that of her party more broadly.

They lack coherence and capability of prosecuting a debate about any issue unless they take the most extreme of positions. It is this approach that has, rightfully, seen the One Nation vote dwindle election after election.

So what better way to arrest this increasing irrelevance than by trying to divide our country on race once again?

I have confidence in our nation to have this debate without indulging these worst aspects of human nature.

However we should brace ourselves for the onslaught of baseless #fakenews rants that will come from the likes of Ms Hanson, particularly if she leads the 'no vote' campaign.

The conversation and ultimate referendum will be a test of our capability as a country, I believe in our capacity to get through it in a way which respects opposing views in a way which is calm and considerate.

On our journey though, let us not seek to stoop to the lows of Ms Hanson and the stunts she plays on the Australian people time after time.

Collectively as a country we are better than that, and at the very least we're much better than Ms Hanson gives us credit for.

• Zak Kirkup is of Yamatji heritage and is the former leader of the Liberal Party in Western Australia