Pauline Hanson’s description of Indigenous Australians “the most primitive race on Earth” might spook some One Nation voters, but experts believe it’s unlikely to put a big dent in the party’s primary vote. 

Hanson, the party’s leader, said on Tuesday she regretted her comments on First Nations people, which were unearthed from a 2025 podcast, and apologised.

But she stood by her opinion that Indigenous culture was primitive compared to English settlers. 

Monash University populism expert Benjamin Moffitt said Hanson’s opinions had shocked many but shouldn’t be a surprise.

“She does not like Indigenous people, she’s a far-right nativist, racist and nothing’s changed there,” Moffitt said. 

“I think it’s perceived as cruel, ill-advised and incredibly mean-spirited.”

Hanson made her first headlines back in 1996 when she called for removing government assistance for Indigenous Australians. That spurred the Liberal Party to dump her as a candidate ahead of that year’s federal election.

Hanson remained a creature of the political fringe. It took nearly 30 years for voters’ desertion of the major parties to catapult her into the mainstream.  

“That’s the difference here, One Nation is … trying to position themselves as the opposition,” Moffitt said.

But he said populists overseas also had a “bigger package” shielding them, even if their policies were perceived as cruel.

“Think of [Reform UK leader Nigel] Farage, think of [US President Donald] Trump, they have a way of being able to laugh these things off,” Moffitt said.

“Hanson doesn’t quite have that, and we see that Barnaby Joyce has to come in and clean up the mess. 

“There’s not even a commitment to the bit.”

YouGov pollster Paul Smith said said Indigenous issues were unlikely to trouble One Nation’s headline polling figures. 

“The thing that has the greatest impact on her lead among working-class voters is her support for making it easier to sack workers … this is her actual Achilles heel,” Smith said. 

Those views were raised during a fiery speech from independent Senator Jacqui Lambie on Tuesday, drawing parallels between Trump, Nigel Farage and Hanson, who is backed by billionaire Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart.

“They care about hanging out with billionaires and feathering their own nests,” Lambie said. 

“Senator Hanson will be fine in her retirement, as will Nigel and Donald.”

Smith said the real danger posed by Hanson’s comments about Indigenous Australians would come from voters ranking One Nation lower on ballot papers.

“Preferences are important … and I think what people are likely to do is draw away,” he said. 

University of Canberra political scientist Emily Foley said controversies were hard to read, pointing to the surprisingly limp impact from One Nation Victorian leader Warren Pickering’s recent admission of drug use. 

“It’s a question of [whether voters’ anger] is stronger,” she said.

Pickering last week came clean about past after his estranged ex-partner accused him of drug-taking and “sexual deviance”. He admitted that he’d “made mistakes” in his 20s but asked to be judged on what he has done since.

The latest Resolve Poll, published on Tuesday, showed voters appeared to agree.

One Nation’s primary vote support remained unchanged on 23 per cent ahead of the Victorian election in late November. It is narrowly behind Labor on 25 per cent, while Coalition support rose to 28 per cent.

Federally, One Nation is level with Labor at 25 per cent of first-preference votes, according to a Roy Morgan poll released on Tuesday.

-AAP