Pauline Hanson revives Karl Stefanovic’s deleted Tommy Robinson interview
Pauline Hanson has republished Karl Stefanovic’s controversial podcast interview with anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson after it was removed from online platforms only hours after going to air.
The One Nation leader uploaded the deleted exchange to her YouTube account under the title: “CANCELLED: The Full Karl Stefanovic and Tommy Robinson Interview.” Robinson had praised Hanson repeatedly during the conversation.
The post’s caption said: “It looks like they’re trying to sack my good friend Karl Stefanovic for this video with Tommy Robinson.”
It continued: “Deb Knight was a huge flop for Channel 9 and while she was busy grilling me over One Nation’s polling Channel 9’s ratings were in the toilet.
“In 2019 on live TV with her, I called on Channel 9 to bring back Karl. Now with 6 months to go on his contract the weak management of Channel 9 want to sack Karl over this interview.
“Tommy Robinson has a lesson for Australians. If we don’t learn from the UK’s mistakes on immigration and radical Islam, we are going to face the same destruction.
“This is exactly what Karl was trying to bring to Australia’s attention.”
Hanson said “they”, apparently referring to Nine, were attempting to “sack” Stefanovic over the episode.
In the interview, Robinson said he “loves” Hanson and claimed an uprising is underway in Australia. Stefanovic spoke warmly about the far-right figure during Tuesday’s episode of The Karl Stefanovic Show, where Robinson also said he was in the middle of causing a “f***ing earthquake” in the UK.
The choice of guest drew backlash in Australia. Robinson was a member of the neo-Nazi-adjacent British National Party (BNP) in the early 2000s and has an extensive criminal record.
Only a few hours after publication, posts promoting the interview disappeared from Stefanovic’s Instagram. By Wednesday morning, the full episode had also been removed from Spotify, Apple Podcasts and the Karl Stefanovic Show YouTube channel. The most recent interview still available there is Stefanovic’s conversation with former SAS star Ant Middleton, which was published on Monday.
No explanation for the removal appeared on the podcast’s social media accounts.
Earlier on Tuesday night, Stefanovic had promoted the episode on his personal X account, writing: “What happens when speaking your mind comes at a cost? Now live on the show, Tommy Robinson shares his story, chatting all about free speech, censorship, immigration and the direction he believes Britain should be heading in,” alongside a 39-second clip.
Before it was deleted, the 55-minute episode showed Robinson facing little pushback and not being challenged over his past remarks, while he laid out his ultra right-wing nationalist views.
“We all believe in free speech, we’re against mass migration, we’re against Islam, we’re a Christian nation and we’re against LGBTQ indoctrination of children,” Robinson said.
Rather than dispute those priorities, Stefanovic asked “how is the right going to take power over in the next three years” and “how do you convert those five values into representation?”
Robinson replied that he wanted to “reach the 50 per cent of non voters and register them to vote”.
“I want to go into the roughest areas of Britain, the working class communities … captivate them, re-energise them and make them believe they matter and that will cause a f***ing earthquake,” he said.
Stefanovic answered: “Well, why not. This is a great country and it’s just so lost.”
Later, Stefanovic described Robinson as “fascinating” and said “there’s no-one driving working class agendas in this country”.
When Robinson argued that a political shift was underway in Britain and that anti-immigration views were moving into the mainstream, Stefanovic responded: “this is literally happening in Australia with One Nation”.
“I love Pauline,” Robinson said.
“She spoke up for me. She’s literally one of the only people who spoke up for me from that side of the world. Looking at her rise, do you know how happy I am for her.
“She’s been through what I went through. She’s been condemned, attacked, battered, called every name under the sun. It’s not easy. For a woman, the amount of horrible, disgusting things said about her.”
Stefanovic then said that “main political parties (in Australia are) using some of her policy and they’re catching fire in the electorate”.
The Today host had announced the interview after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s resignation on Monday evening.
“Tonight. 5pm. In a historical change, Keir Starmer is out. We speak to Tommy Robinson, the guy you’ve all been asking for. The ultimate disruptor. Many say, a voice for the people. This is a wild chat you can’t miss,” Stefanovic posted on X.
In a separate clip, Stefanovic was seen walking with Robinson with his arm around him. Robinson then asked him to complete a sentence.
“Can I ask you a question?” said Robinson, before asking Stefanovic to fill in the blank.
“Keir Starmer is a..?”
“W***er,” said Stefanovic, as the pair laughed loudly together.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, organises protests and smear campaigns against what it claims is the spread of “Islamist extremism”. Over the past few decades he has been jailed multiple times for offences including assault, fraud and repeated contempt of court. He was also a member of the neo-Nazi-adjacent British National Party (BNP) from 2004 to 2005, and has repeatedly organised protests marred by Nazi salutes. He was previously backed by Elon Musk.
The interview is one of the first examples of Stefanovic moving into UK-focused politics under the podcast’s revised format. The show has expanded from two episodes a week to five, running across five days. Mondays feature an in-conversation interview. On Tuesdays, Stefanovic launches The Brief, a program looking at how the UK is handling what the show describes as the same dire issues facing Australia. Wednesdays are reserved for Karl Weekly, where Stefanovic speaks with experts, commentators and decision-makers about major Australian stories. On Thursdays, Drew Pavlou fronts an investigative series driven by audience-voted topics. Fridays are set aside for The Panel, a debate show with rotating guests.
The Robinson booking drew strong criticism from many viewers.
“Are you going to have Thomas Sewell on next? How far into the sewer are you willing to go,” one X user wrote.
“Wow, you’ve really hit an all-time low. I can’t believe I used to respect you,” another said.
“No one has been asking for this,” another added.
Right-wing commentator Avi Yameni welcomed the episode, writing: “Finally, a Karl Stefanovic interview I might actually watch.”
The podcast launched five months ago and has already attracted controversy. Since then, Stefanovic has interviewed Pauline Hanson, Pete Evans, Clive Palmer and ‘manosphere’ figure Bi
