Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has slammed Pauline Hanson's "wilful ignorance" after the One Nation leader described Aboriginal people as "the most primitive race on Earth".
Senator Price, a Warlpiri woman, said Senator Hanson had crossed the line, and warned that debates about Indigenous affairs should not be dragged into "appalling territory".
"All decent Australians, I'm sure, would condemn such comments and would rightfully be shocked that they came from the leader of a political party," Senator Price said in a statement on social media.
"Some of the issues raised by Pauline Hanson are serious debates, many of which I have been very vocal about, but yet again, Senator Hanson has dragged the conversation into appalling territory."
Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung senator Lidia Thorpe described Senator Hanson's comments as "dehumanising".
Kurin Minang human rights expert and law academic Dr Hannah McGlade told National Indigenous Times that former Liberal senator Ross Lightfoot was found to have breached the Racial Discrimination Act for "very similar comments" in 2002.
Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, described Hanson's comments as "totally outrageous" and "completely racist".
"(It) also divides our country in a way that we do not want to see happen here in Australia," she said.
The comments, made by Senator Hanson in September 2025 on the Jamie J podcast, were reported by channel News24, formerly Sky News Australia, on Monday.
"We're actually all leaning towards this Aboriginal, you know, teaching about Aboriginal culture and language for what?'' Senator Hanson said during the interview last year.
"And I'll say it on your program. What the hell have they done in this country for, you know, supposedly 60,000 years?"
The Senator, who has been under fire this week for negative comments about the Prime Minister's mother and Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, claimed Indigenous people in Australia had "achieved nothing".
"They never invented the wheel. There was nothing there. What are we actually holding up?" she said.
"A few, you know, rock paintings. Sorry, they're the most primitive race on Earth, and we're supposed to be holding up and saying what they've achieved."
Senator Hanson also claimed teaching First Nations history in schools was "a complete waste of time".
On Monday, federal opposition spokesperson on Indigenous affairs, Julian Leeser, said "when you belittle Indigenous culture, you belittle something about what makes Australia great".
A post on Senator Hanson's twitter account on Monday appeared to double down on the extreme comments, urging people to "have a look... You be the judge".
