This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Pauline Hanson has disowned senator Fraser Anning – who was elected on her One Nation ticket – and named an adviser in his office as the probable source of his racially inflammatory comments about a “final solution” to immigration.

Anning delivered his first Senate speech on Tuesday, which unleashed widespread condemnation from Malcolm Turnbull down for invoking the White Australia policy, using the term “final solution” and advocating for a discriminatory immigration policy.

During a Senate debate on Labor’s motion to reaffirm Australia’s commitment to non-discrimination on Wednesday, the One Nation leader said she was “appalled” by Anning’s comments, adding that the speech was “straight from Goebbels’ handbook from Nazi Germany”.

Pauline Hanson says Fraser Anning's speech left her 'appalled' – politics live Read more

Hanson – who called for a ban on immigration in her first speech to the Senate in 2016 and warned Australia was in danger of being “swamped by Muslims” – said that she was offended by comparisons between Anning and herself.

“Because you may have your grievances with what Fraser Anning has said, don’t direct them at me – it’s got nothing to do with me.”

Hanson supported the motion and said Anning’s speech did not reflect One Nation policy.

Hanson suggested that Anning did not write the speech, claiming it was written by an adviser named Richard Howard, who she said had previously worked as a military propaganda specialist before a stint as a One Nation staffer.

She said that Howard had worked for the office of the former One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts but was sacked. She said he then asked for a position in her office but she refused. Hanson said she warned Anning not to take Howard on to his staff when Anning replaced Roberts after his disqualification.

Play Video 1:17 Senators line up to shake Fraser Anning's hand after maiden speech – video

David Leyonhjelm confirmed that Howard also worked for him for “a few months during sitting periods” before working for Anning.

He told Guardian Australia that Howard “isn’t a racist as far as I know” but “loves winding up the professional outrage industry even more than I do”.

“Fraser [Anning] told me Richard [Howard] helped with the speech but I don’t know how much.”

Earlier in the Senate, Hanson acknowledged that Anning was elected under the One Nation banner but said he had “never held a seat in this parliament under Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, from day one when he was sworn in he was an independent”.

Anning held third place on One Nation’s Queensland ticket at the 2016 election. He entered the Senate in 2017 when Roberts – who was second on the ticket – was disqualified by the high court, but sat as an independent before joining Katter’s Australia party in June.

Hanson said she stood by her views but accepted Australia was “a multiracial society” and she had always advocated that “you do not have to be white to be Australian”.

She said: “We have called for people coming here to give their undivided loyalty to this country – that you be Australian and proud of this country and abide by the laws.”

MPs widely condemn Fraser Anning's 'final solution' speech Read more

Hanson denied having made “racist comments” herself, saying that “criticism” of the immigration program and the number of migrants was not racist.

Hanson rounded on senators who listened to Anning’s speech without walking out in condemnation, accusing them of being “gutless” for re-entering the Senate on Wednesday to criticise him after the public mood turned.

Guardian Australia contacted Anning and Howard for comment.