Hours after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson added to her collection of categorically bad takes by expressing a genuine affinity for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has reminded her that Putin’s Russia… Well, it ain’t all that and a bag of chips.
ICYMI, Hanson appeared on ABC’s Insiders this morning, and was questioned by host Barrie Cassidy about her previous statements regarding Putin. Viewers watched her wrestle with two options: stifling her affection for the bloke, or absolutely gushing. She chose the latter.
?@PaulineHansonOz: I think Vladimir Putin is a strong man#Insiders #auspol pic.twitter.com/oIXJNf7ppU
— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) March 4, 2017
Despite the fact that the missile which downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine was linked to Putin’s Russia, Hanson still found time to be effusive for the “strong man” / strongman. She told Cassidy “so many Australians here want that leadership here in Australia.
“They want a leader here to stand up for the people and fight for this nation.”
Speaking to the media in rural Queensland – traditionally Hanson’s home turf – Turnbull was all-but forced to swat down the senator’s claims. The PM said “Vladimir Putin’s Russia is not and should not be an object of admiration in any respect.”
He also reckoned Russia should hightail it out of occupied Ukraine, and “should provide the information that we know they have on the identity of the people who shot down the MH17 airliner and in doing so murdered 38 Australians.”
It’s always confusing watching the biggest proponents of free speech openly advocate for a guy who has been repeatedly accused of killing dissenters, but hey. You do you, Pauline.*
*Actually, pls stop.
Source: The Australian.
Photo: Lisa Maree Williams / Getty.
