One Nation senator praises conspiracy theorist Alex Jones as a “beacon of hope”
One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts has praised American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones as a “beacon of hope around the world” after the shock jock spent years claiming the Sandy Hook school massacre was staged and promoting the September 11 terrorist attacks as an inside job.
Statements made during a hearing The Alex Jones Show In October 2024, add scrutiny of Pauline Hanson’s long-time loyal colleague’s endorsement of conspiracy theories.
The then-unpublished interview resurfaced after the 71-year-old author was condemned earlier this year for refusing to ignore claims that the Bondi massacre was a “false flag” and for using an anti-Semitic trope to claim “globalist parasites” had taken over the US government. He also described the US government as “the world’s largest terrorist organization.”
Roberts, who was first elected to represent Queensland on behalf of Hanson’s party in 2016, repeatedly praised Jones during the interview, which covered COVID-19, climate change and digital identity laws.
“Thank you so much for what you’ve done. Until recently you were fighting on your own, and now people understand that your credibility is very, very high. So, thank you very much for what you’ve done,” Roberts told Jones.
She later added: “You’re a beacon of hope around the world. I mean, it’s truly amazing.”
Jones became famous for claiming that the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in which 20 children and six staff members were killed, was a fake “false flag” operation and that “nobody died.”
He later admitted that the massacre was real after the victims’ families won almost $1.5 billion in defamation damages. Jones later filed for bankruptcy and recorded his last show on the site Infowars in May, when it was forced into liquidation.
For many years, Jones claimed that the Bush administration orchestrated the September 11 attacks by blowing up the World Trade Center. “Controlled demolitions”. He was also promoted Conspiracy theories about chemtrailsChemicals in drinking water are turning people gay and former US First Lady Michelle Obama being a man.
Roberts closed his interview with these words: “Thank you, Alex, because you’ve been under the pump for years and years and years and years and years and years of time saying the same thing, and now there’s a lot of people waking up all over the world. So thank you and keep it up.”
Roberts responded that Jones was right “on a lot of things,” but that he hadn’t investigated Sandy Hook, 9/11, or Michelle Obama’s gender, so he couldn’t comment.
“Yes, SOME of Alex’s views are controversial. This is not a criterion for evaluating an issue that he or anyone else has raised or questioned. Instead, I rely on hard data,” he said.
“I’m honored to be a guest on Alex Jones’ show. He invites people who can research and think for themselves and question the mainstream narrative.”
One Nation, which leads both Labor and the Coalition in several previously published polls (including this imprint’s Resolve), has taken a hit with voters since Hanson’s first speech at the National Press Club last month.
He has recently sparked controversy by appearing alongside far-right British anti-Islam agitator Tommy Robinson, who has said he will “be Australia’s next leader”.
Last month, the Executive Council of Australian Jews condemned Roberts after he claimed “globalist parasites” had taken over the US government, turning it into “the world’s largest terrorist organisation”.
Roberts made similar statements in his interview with Jones, saying government policies, particularly in Commonwealth countries, were driven by “globalists… unelected parasites who are fronts for big corporations, fronts for the few people who own and control them.” transcript of the conversation stays on its own website.
He came under criticism in May after denying claims that the Bondi massacre was a “false flag”. Roberts told the interviewer that he suspected it was a hoax, but didn’t have the data to completely rule it out.
When asked while standing next to his colleagues at the press conference, he said: “First of all, this is an absurd proposal. Secondly, I emphasize that I make my decisions and statements based on data and I do not have data on this subject.”
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson then intervened to say: “I will respond, because I have discussed this with Senator Roberts. There is no false flag.”
Opposition defense secretary James Paterson said it was “strike three for Malcolm Roberts”.
“First he claimed that the Bondi terrorist attack was a false flag. Then he called the USA the largest terrorist organization in the world. Now he praises someone who defends the truth of 9/11 and denies the school attacks,” he said.
“How much tolerance is Pauline Hanson willing to tolerate from her colleague before publicly condemning her for these unreasonable comments?”
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Rob Harris is a national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Canberra. He is a former European correspondent.Connect via email.
