Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has alleged he was warned about incoming online hatred by a \u201csenior One Nation official\u201d months before he was billed for additional security measures.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Hastie, who has\u00a0recently\u00a0received\u00a0additional\u00a0security at his family home and staffed office, said he believed a wave of personal attacks online had been orchestrated.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked by Sky News host Andrew Bolt about attacks on his character, the Canning MP said he believed someone was funding online hate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he was warned by a One Nation official.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I think there\u00a0is something orchestrated online in the background. I think that there’s money behind it. I don’t know about the source of that money, but certainly it’s an area of reform, I think, because we have transparency with political parties, but there are actors online who are advocating political causes and we know nothing about who is funding them and why,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew this was coming though. I had a call from a senior One Nation official, who I\u00a0won’t\u00a0name for legal reasons, in the middle of\u00a0April\u00a0who effectively told me that this was\u00a0going to\u00a0happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was in response to some of the campaigning in Farrer. And sure enough, a deluge of personal attacks followed online. So this wasn’t a surprise to me, but there are consequences to this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bolt reported following the interview that One Nation had denied running any specific campaign against Mr Hastie, and a senior One Nation official said Mr Hastie was not warned by him or others of a campaign against him.<\/p>\n
Mr Hastie last week told Coalition MPs he had been identified for security upgrades after he was targeted by an online campaign.<\/p>\n
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had rung him to inform him of the need for increased monitoring.<\/p>\n
He has faced criticism from supporters of alleged war criminal and Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith. One Nation’s Pauline Hanson is one of those supporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Hastie\u00a0was one of\u00a0a number of\u00a0former SAS soldiers to testify against the veteran during a defamation hearing preceding the criminal\u00a0charges laid against Roberts-Smith.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he was unsure what his critics wanted him to do during the Roberts-Smith suit against Nine Newspapers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was one of several SAS soldiers who were subpoenaed to give evidence to the Federal Court.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who have taken issue with me on that, I said to them, \u2018well, do you want me to be in contempt of the Federal court? And do you me to lie?\u2019\u00a0I’ll\u00a0do neither,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd\u00a0so\u00a0I gave evidence under oath, as was expected of me and I think we have\u00a0rule\u00a0of law in this country for\u00a0a very good\u00a0reason.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Hastie also appeared to suggest he feared foreign actors had an increasing reach into Australian politics.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n