The backlash to Pauline Hanson’s suggestion to segregate autistic children from mainstream classrooms has been swift and unforgiving.
Politicians have been quick to condemn the One Nation leader’s comments, especially Labor MP Emma Husar who described her comments as “ill-informed” and designed to divide the Australian community.
“I’m disappointed that in 2017, we’ve got people like Senator Hanson sitting over there in the Senate making ill-informed comments about kids that are autistic that they don’t belong in a mainstream class and calling for them to be segregated,” she said.
For an “angry, upset and disappointed” Ms Husar, the attack was personal. Her 10-year-old son Mitch is on the autism spectrum.
“I was told that he’d never speak, that I could expect that Mitch [who’s on the autism spectrum] could never play in a sports team with his age-matched teams, or that he could ever be included in a mainstream class,” she explained.
“But he is and he does very, very well.”
“She owes an apology to every single autistic child in this country; to every one of the parents, like me, because we have got better things to be doing than defending our kids,” the MP based in Western Sydney said.
“She owes an apology to 164,000 Australians who have autism spectrum disorder – the children and the adults who have been told for a long time that they don’t belong.”
And as a final blow, Ms Husar had this to add:
“And, I’ve got one thing to say to every single child on the autism spectrum, who is going into a classroom today — whether that is a mainstream class, whether that’s a support unit, or whether that’s a school with a specific purpose — that you matter,” she said.
“That you can be included, and you ought to be included.”
“And, that even on the days that are hard — when you’re frustrated, and your disability makes you angry — you are still better than she is on her best day.”
The Shadow Minister for Education and former school principal, Mr Jihad Dib, described Ms Hanson’s comments as a “whole new low”.
Labor frontbencher Tony Burke labelled the speech not only as “horrific, mean [and] cruel” but also “typical” of the One Nation leader.
Other politicians and public figures also condemned her “archaic” suggestion.
