Australian politics live: Lambie says Hanson hasn’t apologised to her over cartoon mocking her medical condition

A federal departmental boss has warned female public servants are experiencing more “more egregious forms of abuse” on social media following complaints from bureaucrats about what they claim is selective clipping of evidence being published online.

Last month, the Secretaries Board, which includes heads of departments, asked the federal government to introduce rules restricting testimony from being uploaded to platforms including X and Instagram.

They argued the clips were exposing public servants to ridicule and abuse, but their bid has been dismissed as an attempt to limit public accountability.

Steven Kennedy, secretary of the department of the prime minister and cabinet, told a parliamentary hearing yesterday that the board was concerned evidence had been taken out of context and edited in ways which invited hostility toward individual bureaucrats.

I would note that secretaries have observed that it is often female public servants and those from First Nation … backgrounds who experience the more egregious forms of abuse on social media.

Kat Wong

Thanks, Martin Farrer! I’ll steer us through politics for the rest of the morning.

Benita Kolovos

The husband of a Victorian Liberal party candidate has allegedly been assaulted during a confrontation over election signs.

A Liberal party spokesperson on Monday evening confirmed the husband of their candidate for Yan Yean, Amanda Dow, was involved in an alleged incident in Mernda yesterday afternoon.

They said:

We understand Ms Dow’s husband approached a member of the public who was removing Liberal party campaign signage and was allegedly assaulted. He suffered facial injuries and was taken to hospital and was discharged today.

Police confirmed a ۵۹-year-old Mernda man had been charged with recklessly causing injury, criminal damage and unlawful assault over the incident, which they alleged occurred near Abundant Avenue and Bridge Inn Road at about ۲pm yesterday.

“Police have been told the victim attended an address to retrieve political campaign signage when he was [allegedly] assaulted,” a spokesperson said.

They said the man has been bailed to appear before Heidelberg magistrates’ court on ۱ February ۲۰۲۷.

The Liberal party spokesperson asked for privacy for Dow and her husband while he recovers.

It comes amid alarm about the safety of candidates in the wake of the Helen Haines attack and after Victoria’s emergency services minister said he thought he was being followed.

Lambie says Hanson hasn’t personally apologised over cartoon

Josh Taylor

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie says the One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, has yet to personally apologise to her over her party’s “Please Explain” cartoon that poked fun at her medical condition, as the candidate behind the cartoon refuses to apologise.

Hanson publicly apologised for the cartoon that depicted Lambie saying “I can’t laugh because of my prolapsed vagina” and the video was subsequently removed from online platforms.

However, Lambie told ABC’s ۷.۳۰ last night that Hanson “hasn’t emailed, messaged, even sent me a nice little card and said, ‘I’m really sorry for doing that’”.

Mark Nicholson – who is running in the Victorian state election for One Nation and is cofounder of Stepmates Studio which makes the cartoons – told ۷.۳۰ it was his job to “pick on people in the public realm” and he would not apologise:

Not right now. If I do anything that is apology-worthy, I’ll apologise.

Nicholson claimed he had “drawn quite a lot of attention” to the medical issue, rather than trivialising it.

Lambie said Nicholson should drop out of the election.