From the Guardian · · 1m 30s
Hastie draws a line in the sand with Hanson
A feud over a cartoon has turned into a fight for a Western Australian seat.
In brief
A feud over a cartoon has turned into a fight for a Western Australian seat. Hastie has decided that answering Hanson publicly beats absorbing another six months of attacks. Originally reported by the Guardian.
The fight that won't end
Andrew Hastie used a morning TV spot to demand Pauline Hanson explain where she stands on executing prisoners on the battlefield. Parliament spent the week on it and it is still running.
A cartoon started it
One Nation put out an animated video in late July branding Hastie, a former SAS captain, a traitor. The trigger was his evidence against Ben Roberts-Smith in the failed defamation trial.
Lying coward
Hastie called Hanson weak and glass jawed for neither owning the cartoon nor pulling it from her social media. She says she never called him a traitor.
“weak and glass jawed”
Roberts-Smith still gets a fair trial
Despite testifying against him, Hastie told News24 that Roberts-Smith deserves the presumption of innocence in the separate criminal case now before the courts.
One Nation targets Canning
Hanson's party has announced it will run at Hastie's Western Australian seat. That turns a personal spat into an electoral contest he has to win on the ground.
Weakness is provocative
Hastie says six months of attacks convinced him that silence invites more of them. He frames Hanson as someone he once respected and now treats as an opponent.
“she started a fight, and I intend to win it”
The main idea
Hastie has decided that answering Hanson publicly beats absorbing another six months of attacks.
