politics

6 of the most cringe-worthy moments from Pauline Hanson's appearance on Q&A.

Boy oh boy was last night’s episode of Q&A spicy.

With a lineup of Simon Burmingham, Sam Dastyari, Larissa Waters, Nick Xenophon and Pauline Hanson, we expected some heat. But we never expected a boiling hot treasure trove of mayhem.

It was horrifying and glorious all at the same time.

And to the surprise of absolutely nobody, that chaos came straight from the mouth of Senator Elect Hanson.

Here are the six most cringe-worthy things the Senator Elect said on Monday night:

1. Indonesia is, apparently, not a democracy.

No no, if you think Indonesia is a democracy you are MISTAKEN. Ms Hanson says any and all Muslim nations do notbelieve in democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly or freedom of the press.”

Even when challenged, and told that Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world (and is, you know, a democratic country), Ms Hanson refused to back down.

“They [Indonesia] want total control of the people… I think they control the people and their beliefs.”

… Rightio then. 

Oh dear. (Image: ABC) 
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2. Supposedly, terrorism has only affected Australia in recent years.

The One Nation leader claimed Islamic terrorism is the only kind of terrorism that's been in Australia.

“We have terrorism on our streets that we’ve never had before, under the name of Islam.”

Of course, it didn't take long for Q&A host Tony Jones to correct that complete and utter fallacy.

“Pauline I’m sure our fact checkers will be on to this." The convo-segue-artist Tony began. "But when you say we’ve never had terrorism in this country before that’s simply not the case. In the 1970s there were multiple bombings by Croatian-Catholic extremists… we should at least get the facts straight.”

*Mic drop*

3. In case you weren't aware, Islam isn't *actually* a religion.

For some unknown reason, Ms Hanson insisted on saying Islam is a "so-called religion".

The fact that there's 1.6 BILLION Muslims in the world doesn't matter. It's still a *so-called* religion... capisce? 

4. "Are you Muslim? Reeeaaally?"

Nothing quite compares to the curious look Ms Hanson shot NSW Labor Senator Sam Dastyari when he commented that he is, in fact, a Muslim.

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 Yep. That's the one. (Image: ABC)

'Are you Muslim? Really? Were you sworn in under the Koran?'

Senator Dastyari, who was a child migrant from Iran in 1988, would be barred from entering Australia today if One Nation's proposed immigration policies were to be implemented.

'I didn’t know that about you. This is quite interesting.' She continued.

Thank god for Greens Senator Larissa Waters, who said what we were all thinking: “What, because he doesn’t have three heads?”

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5. The fist pump. THE FIST PUMP.

With a "Go Sonia!" to boot, backing Today Extra's Sonia Kruger who stirred controversy on Monday after calling for Australia to close its borders to Muslims.

“I think it’s great that someone is standing up, because she’s expressed her feeling about it.”

6. 'Let's see what happens.'

Then there was the Muslim audience member, who extended this invitation for Ms Hanson to enjoy a meal with his family (he's a psychologist, with three lawyer brothers):

“Would you be willing to take my offer to inviting you for lunch or dinner - whichever suits you best - with me and my Muslim family, while we have something Halal I’ll ensure what you have is something not Halal. Would you kindly accept my invitation?”

But even after much cajoling, it seems the meal will never take place.

"We can talk, you can get in touch with my office." Ms Hanson replied. "Let’s just see what happens."

What was your take on last night's episode of Q&A?

The Mamamia Out Loud team has had A LOT to say about Pauline Hanson...