One Nation's Victorian deputy leader Colleen Harkin defended an AI-generated election campaign video featuring a man of African appearance wielding a machete and a person resembling a Middle Eastern suicide bomber. The clip aired during the party’s recent campaign launch in Melbourne, sparking controversy over its perceived racist content. In an interview with 774 ABC Melbourne, Harkin denied racial prejudice in the video and emphasized issues like crime and social cohesion as critical concerns. She also discussed her party's stance on rescinding Victoria's Treaty and dismissed climate change as irrelevant to economic matters.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-12,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
One Nation, an Australian political party, released an AI-generated campaign video in Victoria during their election launch, depicting stereotypes of individuals from African and Middle Eastern backgrounds. The clip shows a man wielding a machete and another wearing what appears to be an explosive vest, alongside commentary about "mass migration" and welfare dependency based on identity rather than need. Despite criticism for its racist overtones, Colleen Harkin, the party's Victorian deputy leader, denied it was racist, stating that addressing issues like crime and social cohesion is necessary. The video sparked controversy and debate over AI-generated misinformation in politics and the need for government oversight to prevent such content during election periods.
Written for “One Nations AI Video Controversy” on 2026-10-12,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.65, but all 3 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 73107: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-12
In short:
One Nation has defended an election campaign video that featured a young man of African appearance wielding a machete and a seemingly Middle Eastern suicide bomber.
asserted
that → defend → machete
The AI-generated clip was shown at an event launching the party's Victorian election campaign earlier this month.
asserted
clip → generate → campaign
The party's deputy leader in Victoria denied it was racist in a wide-ranging interview that also touched on climate change and rescinding the landmark Treaty.
asserted
that → deny → Treaty
One Nation's Victorian deputy leader has defended an AI-generated campaign video featuring a suicide bomber and a home invader, denying it was racist.
asserted
it → defend → bomber
The video, shown at the party's campaign launch in Melbourne earlier this month, features a young man of African appearance wielding a machete and a suicide bomber who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent.
"I don't accept the premise that it is racist," Colleen Harkin told 774 ABC Melbourne on Monday morning.
asserted
Harkin → show → morning
"It is big issues that need to be addressed."
In a wide-ranging interview with host Raf Epstein, Ms Harkin also claimed that climate change was irrelevant to the Australian economy and said One Nation was serious about rescinding Victoria's landmark Treaty.
asserted
Nation → need → Treaty
As for the AI-generated video, she said it tackled the "general view about all the things that are going wrong in Australia" and what was needed to fix them.
"
asserted
what → generate → them
I think most people are looking at some of those things and they're saying, you know, we do have problems with crime in the state, we do have problems with social cohesion and where it's coming from."
The campaign video earlier sparked a row between a Tasmanian cafe owner who was offended by the clip and Pauline Hanson's daughter, who is a customer at the business.
When Epstein pressed Ms Harkin on whether the video was judging people not as individuals but as part of the group they might be part of, Ms Harkin denied there was any prejudice involved.
uncertain
Harkin → think → group
"Would you complain if it was a white-skinned person or a female with blonde hair?" she said.
asserted
she → complain → hair
When asked about the campaign video over the weekend, federal One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce indicated that he had not seen it, but said crime was a significant issue in Victoria.
asserted
crime → ask → Victoria
"Machete crime has been an incredibly scary thing," he told the ABC.
asserted
he → tell → ABC
"People are terrified of the law-and-order issues in Victoria and it should be dealt with.
asserted
it → deal → Victoria
Ms Harkin also said One Nation's Victorian branch was not interested in a coalition with the Liberals but would urge voters to preference that party over Labor.
asserted
branch → say → Labor
"Labor is our political enemy and the Liberal Party is our political competition," she said.
"
asserted
she → say → ?
We will work with anybody to remove Labor, anybody."
asserted
We → work → Labor
Ms Harkin, who was a long-standing Liberal member before she moved to run for the upper house with One Nation, said her values and principles "hadn't changed one iota over the years".
asserted
values → stand → years
But she said she remained in touch with many of her Liberal friends and was privy to "interesting intel" that she may not have otherwise had access to.
uncertain
she → say → access
In June, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson labelled climate change and global warming a "hoax".
asserted
Hanson → label → change
Asked if she held the same belief, Ms Harkin said: "I think climate changes all the time".
asserted
I → ask → belief
"The issue for Australia is what are we doing about energy security and what is it costing us?"
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it → do → us
Epstein posited that climate science had shown that humans were the problem when it came to climate change.
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it → posit → change
"I think it's irrelevant to our economy.
asserted
it → think → economy
So what we do is we dig up minerals, we send it off overseas and we buy it back," Ms Harkin responded.
asserted
Harkin → dig → it
"If the world is serious about climate, it's not Australia that's causing the problem."
asserted
that → cause → problem
In Monday's ABC interview, Ms Harkin also echoed a previous statement from Ms Hanson that she had "no time for radical Islam".
asserted
she → echo → Islam
"Radical Islam is a problem for Australia and I don't think many people would disagree with that," she said.
asserted
she → think → that
Ms Harkin said Muslims should stand up to other Muslims radicalising young people and "do it louder".
asserted
Muslims → say → it
"I have access to Muslim people but in terms of how those kids are being engaged with and who's radicalising them, I don't," she said.
asserted
she → have → them
The Aporia
