Freshly uncovered comments have revealed that senior One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts once praised American conspiracy broadcaster Alex Jones, describing him as a source of hope for people around the world.
Senator Roberts, one of Pauline Hanson’s longest-serving parliamentary colleagues, appeared on Jones’s program shortly before the show ceased operating. During the interview, he thanked the controversial broadcaster for his work and claimed Jones’s public credibility had risen significantly.
Roberts told Jones that he had fought what he described as a largely solitary battle for many years before more people began supporting his views. He repeatedly expressed appreciation for Jones’s activities and public commentary.
Jones spent decades promoting conspiracy theories to a large international audience. He was later held legally responsible for repeatedly making false claims about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut.
Twenty children and six school employees were killed in the attack. Jones had falsely suggested the massacre was staged and that the victims had not died.
He subsequently acknowledged that the shooting was real. Courts ordered him to pay approximately $US1.5 billion in damages to the victims’ families, and his financial troubles eventually led to liquidation proceedings in 2024.
During his appearance on Jones’s show, Senator Roberts claimed that powerful, unelected individuals connected to major corporations were promoting similar political agendas throughout English-speaking countries.
He alleged these forces were encouraging division, fear and hostility within communities. Roberts also linked these claims to government and public-health responses during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that isolation and fear had made individuals feel vulnerable and disconnected.
The Queensland senator used the interview to praise technology billionaire Elon Musk for publicly challenging Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant.
The dispute between Musk and the commissioner followed efforts to compel his social media platform, X, to remove graphic footage of the stabbing of an Assyrian Orthodox bishop at a church in western Sydney.
X resisted the removal order, triggering a legal dispute and intense public criticism of the commissioner. Ms Inman Grant later said she had received credible death threats during the controversy.
The Federal Court case was eventually discontinued after the eSafety regulator encountered several legal setbacks.
Roberts said anyone willing to confront the commissioner deserved his support. He also praised Musk for changes made to X, arguing that the platform had become more open under the billionaire’s ownership.
The resurfaced comments have renewed attention on Senator Roberts’s history of controversial public statements during his decade in federal politics.
He previously faced criticism after declining to completely dismiss suggestions that the Bondi Beach terrorist attack could have been a so-called false-flag operation.
In a May interview, Roberts said he doubted the attack had been staged but maintained that he did not yet possess enough evidence to rule the possibility out entirely.
He argued that any definitive statement he made would need to be supported by facts.
The senator has also been condemned by a leading Australian Jewish organisation over his use of language involving “globalist parasites” and accusations that hidden interests had transformed the United States government into a terrorist organisation.
Critics have argued that such terminology reflects conspiracy narratives that have historically carried anti-Jewish associations.
The controversy was raised during a media appearance by One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce on Tuesday.
Mr Joyce was questioned about Roberts’s previous comments and asked what conduct would be serious enough for a member to be removed from the party.
Joyce declined to personally attack his colleague, saying Roberts should be responsible for explaining and defending his own statements.
However, the former Nationals leader made clear that he rejected claims suggesting the Sandy Hook massacre, the Bondi attack or similar acts of violence were staged.
He also said he did not agree with describing the United States as a terrorist organisation.
Joyce defended Roberts’s right to express personal opinions and stressed that a statement made by an individual One Nation parliamentarian did not automatically become official party policy.
When asked directly whether Roberts remained fit to serve in the Senate, Joyce refused to provide a clear assessment.
He said he disagreed with the remarks but did not intend to comment further on his colleague’s suitability for office.
The revelations are likely to increase scrutiny of One Nation’s internal standards and its response to controversial or conspiratorial statements made by senior representatives.
One Nation was contacted for a response to the resurfaced interview and the criticism surrounding Senator Roberts’s remarks.
