Traitorgate: How Andrew Hastie blew up the internet over Ben Roberts-Smith and Pauline Hanson

Most political leaders have a moment that defines them: a rousing speech, a vicious put down or an act of bravery or treachery that becomes forever associated with their name.

Based on the reaction of readers and viewers, Andrew Hastie, the shadow industry minister, may become known for his decision to call One Nation leader Pauline Hanson a “coward and a liar”.

Over the past week the internet has lit up with debate, argument, abuse and praise over Traitorgate.

Even for a political warrior like Mr Hastie, the attention is incredible. Last October, when the West Australian MP resigned as Home Affairs minister, complaining he had been excluded from immigration policy, a post on his Facebook page received 1100 comments.

Over the past week his attacks on Senator Hanson, One Nation and other critics have attracted about 13,000 Facebook remarks from readers. That is just on his account, and compares with 146 comments last week on a post he made about the Coalition’s decision to cut tobacco taxes by 80 per cent.

Media outlets have have struggled to get hundreds of comments on a political story are now getting thousands. The responses is a sign of Australians’ fascination with the dispute over whether Mr Hastie should have given evidence against Victoria Cross awardee Ben Roberts-Smith, who has been charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.

A sample of 463 comments on Mr Hastie’s latest post, called Senator Hanson “weak and glass-jawed”, found 92 per cent were critical of him. They included six that used the same word Mr Hastie took offence to last week in One Nation’s satirical cartoon, Don’t be Hastie.

Despite the many critical comments, the post received 7300 thumbs ups, suggesting readers overall approved.

Military divide

Among professional military commentators, the split was as stark.

The most scathing criticism came from Sam Bamford, a supporter of Mr Roberts-Smith and former paratrooper who hosts the Adelaide-based 2 Worlds Collide show, a podcast ranked in the top 100.

On the weekend Bamford called Mr Hastie, Senator Jacqui Lambie and RSL president Peter Tinley, a fellow SAS veteran who defended Mr Hastie, traitors for using “veterans as a political tool to try and destroy One Nation”.

“No dude, we don’t stand with you,” Bamford said on his show. “You’re not one of us.”

Bamford hasn’t always been critical of the Liberal MP. Last August he had a friendly conversation with Mr Hastie on his show. They agreed on cutting immigration, the high cost of renewable energy and the importance of increasing the birth rate. Mr Hastie revealed he didn’t like watching his own interviews. “I’m fire and forget,” he told Bamford.

The traitor insult was rejected by ex-army officer Neil James, the head of the Australian Defence Association, a lobby group for the Defence Force. Mr James said calling veterans traitors was particularly harsh because within the military the word is used for people who fight for enemy forces.

“Many Australians have misunderstood the deep context and circumstances applying to this situation,” he wrote on X. “And why insulting a war veteran as a ‘traitor’ is far more unacceptable than even the habitual abuse of standard partisan-political exchanges.”

‘Be proud’

Mr Hastie’s decision to make his Special Air Service personnel records public last week attracted attention too.

Joe Hotai, a YouTuber and former SAS soldier who supports Mr Roberts-Smith, said on Instagram the 19 pages of partially redacted paperwork could “be summed up simply as ‘You showed up and did your job’.”

He invited Mr Hastie on to his show to answer questions such as: “What is said in the cartoon that is incorrect?”

The eight-minute One Nation cartoon insulting Mr Hastie, and encouraging the Coalition to work with One Nation, has been watched 231,000 times on YouTube, according to the latest count. Short clips have likely been seen by many more on television news bulletins.

As the political debate shifted to One Nation’s immigration policy, which was published Monday morning, Mr Hastie continued to attack Senator Hanson in media interviews.

In return he received recognition from a television presenter for his 12-and-a-half years in the army, which included several tours of Afghanistan, including a brief trip in 2012 when he crossed paths with Mr Roberts-Smith — a story he later told in court.

“You say you’re proud of your years of service, and you should be, and it deserves the respect of every single Australian, especially those of us who have never put on a uniform for the sake of our country,” a presenter said on Monday morning.

‘Are you serious?’

Among other veterans, the fallout from the fight spread to include the RSL’s decision to defend Mr Hastie against the “traitor” cartoon.

Former commando officer Heston Russell, who in 2022 successfully sued the ABC over war crimes allegations, complained the veterans’ organisation, formally known as the Returned and Services League, did not support him against the public broadcaster.

“Are you being serious right now?” he asked on social media. “Where were you when veterans were actually being accused of being war criminals, with footage edited, shots added, and three years to a defamation case in the Federal Court.

“Not over feelings being hurt over being called a word in a cartoon.”

An RSL spokeswoman said the word traitor was offensive to all veterans. “It’s not about backing one veteran over another,” she said. “It’s about standing up for the veteran community.”

Another ex-army officer, and veteran’s advocate, Stuart McCarthy, pointed out that Mr Tinley, the RSL president, is a former Labor politician from Western Australia. Mr McCarthy argued the “traitor” fight was over political power, not protecting soldiers or military justice.

“If anything, it only reinforces just how disillusioned many veterans have become with mainstream politics, particularly when they pull out the ‘veterans card’ for purely political motives,” he wrote on social media.

As for Mr Hastie, in his interview last year with the 2 Worlds Collide podcast, he described an incident from his SAS training that may be relevant today.

Climbing out of water on a ladder, weighed down by equipment, he was about to fall 10 metres back into the water when a colleague pulled him up, saving him from humiliation. As a politician, that doesn’t happen, he said.

“In politics, you ask for that hand, you get a face pushed down off the ladder,” he said. “That’s why I miss the ADF, sometimes.”