Robert Stevenson

PAULINE HANSON: SATIRE FOR THEE, BUT NOT FOR ME. A little history lesson, Pauline. Pull up a chair. In 1997, Australian performer Simon Hunt, better known as Pauline Pantsdown, released a parody song titled I'm a Back Door Man. The song cleverly rearranged recordings of Hanson's own voice to create a ridiculous, satirical performance. Pauline didn't like it. "I don't like it", which interestingly was also a parody by Simon and also a HIT. Hanson? Double Dislike. Did Pauline like it? Get over it? Not one fucking bit. So what did our great defender of political satire and freedom of expression do? SHE SUED. Let's examine the historical record: 1997: Hanson launched defamation proceedings against the ABC over Triple J broadcasting the song. 1997: She successfully obtained a Supreme Court injunction stopping its broadcast. 1998: The ABC challenged the injunction in Queensland's Court of Appeal. Hanson prevailed. 1999: The ABC sought special leave to appeal to the High Court. Refused. 2004: The ABC considered having the injunction lifted. Hanson publicly objected, and the ABC abandoned the attempt. The song was a parody. It featured NO animated murders, NO politicians being run over by four-wheel drives and NO cartoon beheadings. Just an absurd recording mocking Pauline Hanson. AND PAULINE WENT TO COURT TO STOP IT. Fast-forward to 2026. Pauline Hanson now fronts a cartoon series called Please Explain, produced by a studio co-founded by Mark Nicholson, who just happens to be a One Nation candidate for Victoria's Legislative Council. And what does this monument to political satire feature? Well, boys and girls, hold onto your fucking potatoes. ROBERT IRWIN AND BLUEY: Depicted being deliberately run over by a vehicle driven by cartoon versions of Daniel Andrews and Anthony Albanese, before their bodies are stuffed into the boot. DANIEL ANDREWS: Subsequently depicted being run down by Bluey driving an SUV. ANTHONY ALBANESE: Also depicted being struck by Bluey's SUV. PENNY WONG: Depicted murdered with a knife protruding from her back in one episode. In another, her HEAD IS CHOPPED OFF WITH AN AXE. LIDIA THORPE: Depicted lying beneath a bus driven over her by Hanson. BLUEY AND ROBERT IRWIN: Featured in a One Nation colouring book confronting a knife-wielding crocodile. JACQUI LAMBIE: Her serious vaginal prolapse condition, which required surgery and months away from parliament, turned into a fucking cartoon punchline. And when Lambie quite reasonably objected? Hanson's response? "JACQUI LAMBIE, GET OVER IT." She then suggested Lambie have a laugh and lighten up. Hanson subsequently apologised publicly for the cartoon, admitting she hadn't even watched it before defending it. Nicholson, however, refused to apologise. Apparently, he considers publicly ridiculing people part of his job. In fact, Nicholson told the ABC that public figures open themselves up to parody and that this is the price they pay. WELL, FUCK ME SIDEWAYS, MARK. SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE EXPLAINED THAT TO PAULINE IN 1997. Because when Pauline Pantsdown ridiculed Hanson, 𖧀 she didn't lighten up. 𖧀 She didn't get over it. She didn't have a little giggle and congratulate Simon Hunt on his creativity. SHE LAWYERED UP AND WENT TO COURT. And here's where this stops being merely a story about breathtaking double standards. On 19 October 2026, independent federal MP Helen Haines was subjected to an alleged deliberate vehicle attack outside her electorate office in Wangaratta. She was reportedly struck twice by a four-wheel drive. She survived. SHE LOST BOTH LEGS. Now, nobody has established that Hanson's cartoons caused that attack. That's not the argument. The argument is about political culture. About the repeated depiction of politicians being violently assaulted, run over, stabbed and beheaded. About turning extreme violence into another disposable political punchline. And about the potential desensitisation that comes from repeatedly portraying such violence as entertainment. There's a substantial difference between satirising someone's political beliefs and making cartoon executions part of your regular programming. One challenges ideas. The other risks trivialising violence. Hanson insists her cartoons are satire and says they're not going anywhere. Which brings us back to 1997. PAULINE PANTSDOWN MOCKED HER PERSONALITY. PAULINE HANSON'S CARTOONS DEPICT POLITICIANS BEING MURDERED. One involved manipulated words. The others include axes, knives, vehicles and corpses. And it's the woman who successfully took a parody song to court who now lectures everyone else about having a sense of humour. Apparently, Pauline's skin is made of fucking gossamer when she's the punchline, but she's perfectly happy to defend cartoons involving political violence when someone else is on the receiving end. And perhaps somebody could buy Pauline and Mark a dictionary. Because satire is the use of humour, irony, ridicule or exaggeration to expose and criticise human failings, particularly hypocrisy, stupidity and abuses of power. It is not simply a magic fucking word you shout whenever somebody objects to your latest production. AND THE GREATEST IRONY OF ALL? The most effective political satire in this entire 29-year saga might just be Pauline Hanson's own behaviour. A woman who went to court to silence a man in a frock singing a silly song, now demanding that everyone else toughen up when her cartoon studio starts running politicians over. PLEASE EXPLAIN, PAULINE. No, seriously. FUCKING PLEASE EXPLAIN. And then, fuck off.