The Australian Labor Party has condemned cartoons produced by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson that depict violent attacks on Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, accusing Hanson of fostering division and inciting violence. The cartoons have drawn renewed attention amid concerns about the safety of politicians following an alleged assault on Independent MP Helen Haines last week.

One of the controversial cartoons, released in 2022 as part of Hanson’s Please Explain series, depicts Wong being stabbed in the back by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, shown slumped face-down and bleeding at a desk. Another scene from Hanson’s Super Progressive Movie, which premiered in February, portrays Wong being beheaded by Albanese, who mistakenly targets her while believing he is attacking Hanson. In that sequence, Hanson’s character is revealed to be hiding nearby after Wong’s decapitated head falls to the floor.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett urged politicians to adopt respectful and measured language, explicitly linking the escalation in aggressive political rhetoric, including the Hanson cartoons, to a rise in violent threats against public figures in the country.

Wong criticized Hanson’s actions, stating that it reflects poorly on One Nation’s willingness to depict violence against elected officials. She emphasized that Australians deserve representatives focused on improving lives rather than sowing division and personal attacks.

In response, Hanson dismissed claims linking her cartoons to the incident involving Haines, arguing that the depictions were unrelated and that the major parties sought to censor her work due to its critical nature. “The Please Explain cartoons have nothing to do with the tragic attack on Helen Haines. They will not be going anywhere,” Hanson said.

Mark Nicholson, the creator of the cartoons and One Nation candidate for the upcoming Victorian state election, declined to apologize for another episode that made light of Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie’s health issues. That episode included a reference to Lambie’s prolapsed vagina, which Hanson later apologized for. Nicholson defended his approach by stating his intent to challenge public figures through satire, asserting that those in the public eye must accept both praise and parody.

One Nation’s Victorian leader, Warren Pickering, also defended the cartoons on Tuesday, while acknowledging the need to reduce tensions in political discourse. He likened the Please Explain series to traditional animated satirical content such as Looney Tunes, emphasizing that cartoons serve as an exercise of free speech. Pickering noted that while the content may not always be tasteful or defensible, it historically has provided a means for political engagement and discussion on important issues that might otherwise go unaddressed.