Brittany Higgins condemns Pauline Hanson's comments about domestic violence: 'Don't put up with it'

By NICHOLAS COMINO, POLITICAL REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 06:42, 22 July 2026 | Updated: 06:46, 22 July 2026 Brittany Higgins has criticised Pauline Hanson for comments the One Nation leader made about domestic violence, accusing her of promoting 'victim-blaming rhetoric'. During an interview with Brisbane radio station 4BC on Wednesday, Hanson was asked about men who abused their partners. 'Well, it is wrong. But it's also a two-way street. I'm not saying it's just men - women can lose their cool as well,' the senator said. 'Society is under so much pressure, Gary. More than it used to be. Everyone is sitting on a time bomb because of the pressures of cost of living, paying bills, losing jobs, concerns about their kids. 'Domestic violence is a scourge but look... I've been through it myself in my life. And I just feel if you're not in a house where you feel safe... then you shouldn't put up with it. 'If these women are getting abused by men out there, then don't put up with it.' Her remarks quickly drew a response from Higgins, who took to social media to rebuke the senator's comments. 'Normalising this victim-blaming rhetoric in relation to domestic violence, when 38 Australian women have already been lost to femicide, is atrocious,' Higgins said. Brittany Higgins (pictured) criticised Pauline Hanson's comments about domestic violence  Higgins is married to GetUp campaign lead David Sharaz, who was involved in the unfurling of a banner mocking Hanson when she spoke at the National Press Club in June.  The comments were also condemned by Anglicare General Manager of Relationships and Wellbeing, Claire Dunlop. 'For many victim-survivors, leaving already takes enormous courage,' she told Women's Agenda. 'What this research shows is that financial barriers are becoming another obstacle to safety. 'When housing costs, childcare, transport and everyday essentials keep rising, people can feel trapped between violence and financial insecurity.' It wasn't the only controversy confronting the populist party on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the party's MPs distanced themselves from the views of veteran Senator Malcolm Roberts after a video surfaced of him claiming COVID-19 deaths were 'staged'. The One Nation senator has previously been accused of promoting conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic tropes. Hanson (pictured) has been criticised for saying domestic violence was a 'two-way street' In a video interview published in 2025, Senator Roberts questioned the extent of deaths during the early days of the pandemic. 'Major news broadcasters had these videos of people dying in their droves in makeshift morgues in the streets of New York, the streets of Beijing, the streets of Italy,' he told a forum hosted by podcaster Sam Hope. 'We thought it is pretty serious from what we've seen. We didn't realise until fairly recently that those were all staged. They're bullshit.' In the interview, Senator Roberts also questioned the severity of COVID, saying people were 'conned' about its impact. 'The chief medical officer who was involved in staging a lot of the lies we were told by the bureaucracy ... the chief medical officer's graphs showed low to moderate severity,' he said. One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce on Wednesday said he did not agree with Senator Roberts but didn't want to throw him under a bus. 'Malcolm's a great guy, he's so smart, but on that issue I don't concur with his view,' he told Sky News. Joyce has apologised for his outburst during an interview with ABC's 7.30 on Monday night, during which he yelled at his dog to sit down midway through a sentence. 'You couldn't hear it, but I could. And it was under my skin,' he said. But a Roy Morgan poll published on Tuesday showed the anti-immigration party's primary vote dipped more than five percentage points to 22.5 per cent in the space of a week. Men's Referral Service 1300 766 491