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SYDNEY: Australian far-right leader Pauline Hanson offered a rare but qualified apology on Tuesday after she described the country\u2019s Indigenous people as \u201cprimitive\u201d.<\/p>\n
For years a political outsider, Hanson\u2019s One Nation has surged this year to become one of Australia\u2019s most popular parties, according to opinion polls.<\/p>\n
Long known for racist and inflammatory statements about minorities, Hanson drew outrage from across the political spectrum on Monday for describing Indigenous Australians as the \u201cmost primitive race on Earth\u201d.<\/p>\n
She told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday that \u201cif I\u2019ve offended people by using that, then I will apologise for that\u201d.<\/p>\n
The senator for Queensland said in a separate interview with News24 that she was \u201cnot the most eloquent speaker\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always put my foot in my mouth in the way I come out and say things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI regret saying that because I don\u2019t want to upset people. That wasn\u2019t my intention to hurt people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indigenous Australians, whose ancestors have lived on the continent for more than 60,000 years, have average life expectancies about eight years shorter than the rest of the population.<\/p>\n
Several factors contribute to the disparity, with chronic health issues, higher poverty rates, more limited access to healthcare in some communities and complex socio-economic causes often blamed.<\/p>\n
Indigenous people are also far more likely to be incarcerated or die in custody than other Australians.<\/p>\n
Hanson also said on Tuesday she was sorry if she had offended Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with recent comments in which she disparaged the leader\u2019s late mother for living in public housing.<\/p>\n
Albanese condemned the \u201cmean and nasty\u201d remarks, which sparked calls from an opposition lawmaker to \u201cleave mums out of it\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hanson\u2019s long history of provocative comments appears to have done little to dent her popularity.<\/p>\n
An opinion poll conducted by Resolve Strategic on behalf of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers released on Sunday showed 27 percent of Australians would vote for Hanson\u2019s party — one percentage point behind the ruling Labor Party.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n