Lambie says Hanson has not personally apologised over cartoon mocking her medical condition

Australian independent senator Jacqui Lambie says Pauline Hanson, leader of the right-wing One Nation party, has not personally apologised to her over a cartoon from the party's "Please Explain" series that made fun of Lambie's medical condition. She made the comments on the ABC's current affairs programme 7.30.

What happened

The cartoon depicted Lambie saying she could not laugh because of a prolapse. Hanson publicly apologised for the material, and the video was later removed from online platforms. Even so, Lambie told 7.30 that Hanson had not emailed, messaged or even sent a card saying she was sorry.

Creator refuses to apologise

The cartoons are made by Stepmates Studio, whose co-founder Mark Nicholson is running for One Nation in the Victorian state election. He told the programme it was his job to "pick on people in the public realm" and that he would not apologise. He said he would apologise if he did something worthy of it. Nicholson claimed his work had drawn considerable attention to the medical issue rather than trivialising it.

Lambie said Nicholson should withdraw from the election.

Separate incident in Victoria

The Victorian campaign has also seen concern about candidate safety. A Liberal party spokesperson confirmed that the husband of the party's candidate for Yan Yean, Amanda Dow, was allegedly assaulted in Mernda after approaching a person who was removing Liberal campaign signs. He suffered facial injuries and was taken to hospital, from which he has since been discharged. Police charged a 59-year-old Mernda man with recklessly causing injury, criminal damage and unlawful assault. He has been bailed to appear before Heidelberg magistrates' court on 1 February 2027.