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The Returned Services League has condemned One Nation leader Pauline Hanson for calling Liberal MP and former SAS captain Andrew Hastie a 'traitor'. The RSL argues that using military service as a political punchline is a slur that disrespects the entire veteran community.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing tension between political discourse and the treatment of military veterans in Australian public life.
The Returned Services League says the recent comments from One Nation leader Pauline Hanson aimed at Liberal MP Andrew Hastie constitute a slur.
“Branding a former soldier a ‘traitor’ sends a corrosive message to the wider veteran community: that your service can be recast as betrayal the moment it’s politically convenient,” an RSL statement said.
An episode of the political cartoon Please Explain, produced for One Nation, labels Hastie, a former SAS captain, a traitor for testifying in accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith’s failed defamation action against this masthead.
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