Minister for Women Michaelia Cash said she "can't" understand why people would be upset at her response to Pauline Hanson, after she hugged the new senator following her maiden speech which blamed "sheer frustration" with the Family Court system as contributing to men murdering their former partners and children.

Asked about the gesture on Thursday, Senator Cash said she was merely expressing "goodwill".

Senator Cash, who has led the Turnbull government's domestic violence reforms, was one of the first people to congratulate the Queensland Senator after her fiery first speech on Wednesday.

She warmly embraced Senator Hanson after the speech, in which the new senator also called for a ban on all immigration, the monitoring of mosques, and an end to foreign ownership of Australian agricultural land.