Pauline Hanson has gone on the attack against "stupid fools" in the federal government for abandoning support for her Senate motion declaring "it's OK to be white".

Liberal and National senators on Monday backed the motion - which also claimed "anti-white" racism was on the rise in Australia - before blaming an administrative error a day later and demanding a second vote.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has joined a cavalcade of cabinet colleagues in apologising for the mistake.

"Clearly my failure not to have double checked that was a mistake and I'm sorry for the perceptions that has caused," Senator Birmingham told ABC radio on Wednesday.

The wording of Senator Hanson's motion is akin to phrases commonly used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in the United States.

The One Nation leader said government senators were "absolute fools" for abandoning their support.

"It was pathetic, absolutely pathetic," Senator Hanson told the Nine Network.

Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek said the government's supposed mix-up pointed to a culture of chaos and dysfunction.

"We then had senior ministers tweeting in support of that motion and then pretending that they voted for it by accident," she told reporters in Canberra.