With the relationship between the two already at rock bottom, the ABC has taken the extraordinary step of issuing a blistering rebuke of Barnaby Joyce’s claim that One Nation is one of the “gayest parties in Australia”.
In a newsletter on Wednesday, the taxpayer-funded ABCQueer took the position that not only was One Nation not one of the gayest parties, as Barnaby Joyce claimed, but that no one should “expect to see Pauline at Mardi Gras. Ever.”
The newsletter is the latest attack on One Nation by the ABC, which has been banned from a number of One Nation events in recent months after the party claimed they were not given a “fair go.”
In the newsletter, the ABCQueer team referred to Mr Joyce’s ABC interview on Monday where he claimed to Patricia Karvelas that One Nation was one of the gayest parties in Australia.
“Sure mate,” the newsletter said.
“Before you wonder if One Nation is more inclusive than originally thought, just remember their stance on trans rights and many, many other things.
“And don’t expect to see Pauline at Mardi Gras. Ever.”
In the interview with Mr Joyce that the newsletter referred to, the One Nation MP defended the party after it emerged a former candidate had described homosexuality as a mental illness.
“I don’t want to say it,” Mr Joyce told the ABC.
“But I think we’re one of the gayest parties in Australia.
“We have quite a large proportion of gay people, and they’re all the same.
“They don’t want to be glorified. They don’t want to be vilified. They just want people to accept them, and they go on and do a very good job.”
He said One Nation supported an Australian culture that was “tolerant” and “egalitarian”.
“If that culture bleeds an inappropriate comment that is outside the guardrails of Australia, and that’s why I believe in the Australian culture, which says ‘no, we don’t concur with views like that’,” he said.
“People have views, of course, but they’ve got to be within the Australian guardrails.
“That’s one of our key policies, we believe in an Australian culture that is tolerant, egalitarian, and has things that are inside the guardrails.”
The latest ABC intervention is part of a much broader dispute between the public broadcaster and One Nation.
Ms Hanson has repeatedly accused the ABC of political bias and has barred its journalists from some One Nation events.
“They’ve been very biased towards me for many years, even back in 1996 when I was first elected,” Ms Hanson told News24 earlier this year.
The dispute has escalated in recent months.
One Nation blocked ABC journalists from attending a press event during the Farrer by-election campaign, while the ABC’s chair Kim Williams later criticised the party’s decision.
“I think if you’re going to choose who you talk to and who you don’t talk to, you’re in a dark and dangerous place in democracy,” Mr Williams said.
“And I think politicians are accountable to the people and they don’t get to pick who’s going to question them. Clearly One Nation has a different view.
“Perhaps their concern is because they are such a policy-free zone, but I say that objectively, not in any spirit of partisanship. One Nation has statements, it doesn’t have policies.”
Ms Hanson rejected the characterisation and again accused the ABC of bias.
She has also threatened to strip the broadcaster of its public funding and move it towards a user-pays model.
Earlier this month, the ABC, The Guardian and The Age were denied entry to a One Nation event in Melbourne where the party announced Victorian candidates.
Ms Hanson defended the decision and said previous media bans had resulted in what she considered fairer coverage.
“They’re left-leaning … and they’re so opinionated. I’m not interested,” she said.
In June, Ms Hanson had a heated exchange with an ABC reporter over her comments about multiculturalism and her calls for a “monoculture” in Australia.
The exchange centred on whether people could speak other languages at home, practise different religions and eat different foods under Ms Hanson’s vision for Australia.
The ABC journalist pressed Ms Hanson for details on what she meant by “monoculture”.
Ms Hanson has since accused sections of the media of deliberately misrepresenting her views.
The ABC and One Nation have been contacted for comment.