One Nation senator claimed Covid-19 deaths 'staged'

Pauline Hanson is facing another political headache after a video surfaced of One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts claiming deaths were "staged" during the Covid-19 pandemic. It comes as the party recorded a dip in popularity according to a major national poll, with Senator Hanson facing criticism over a recent trip to Europe. In a video interview published in 2025 and first reported by the Nine newspapers, Senator Roberts questions the extent of deaths during the early days of the pandemic. "Major news broadcasters had these videos of people dying in their droves in makeshift morgues in the streets of New York, the streets of Beijing, the streets of Italy," Senator Roberts told a forum hosted by podcaster Sam Hope. "We thought it is pretty serious from what we've seen. We didn't realise until fairly recently that those were all staged. They're bulls***."