The new resources minister, Matthew Canavan, has warned that the political class should not “insult” Pauline Hanson and her voters despite vehemently disagreeing with them.

In an interview on Sky on Monday, Canavan said that some individual Muslims want to damage Australia but Muslims should not be treated as one group.

It comes after Hanson defended her views on Islam, including a ban on migration, on ABC’s Q&A program on Monday, claiming Islam is incompatible with Australia’s culture.

Canavan, who was promoted to cabinet on Monday, also boasted that the Nationals have achieved their highest representation in cabinet since the 1950s and called for greater understanding of the mining industry.

In a post-reshuffle media blitz, ministers have claimed the Coalition government is united, with Steve Ciobo saying liberals and conservatives were “pulling in the same direction” on budget repair and Dan Tehan saying Malcolm Turnbull had “got the balance right” in the reshuffle.

Canavan said the Nationals and others should not insult people who voted for Hanson or other minor parties.

“Indeed, you don’t even insult Pauline [Hanson] ... because by doing that you’re insulting [their voters],” he said.

“Hanson has been elected in her own right, and I will pay her respect as an elected member of this parliament.

“I’ll obviously violently disagree with her at some times on certain issues but she deserves respect ... the way we deal with these issues is to listen to people.”

Canavan said the two-month election campaign had revealed “home truths” that “people aren’t that confident in the political class right now”.

His comments echo John Howard’s warning that scorn for Hanson would increase her “battler appeal”.

Canavan said he “disagreed with Pauline [Hanson] that we should treat people as groups”, preferring to treat them as individuals.

“There are individuals in our community that, yes, subscribe to the Muslim faith and want to do us damage and we need to have strong security, border protection and other policies ... to secure our safety, but don’t put people into groups, that is not the basis of our society.”

Canavan said that after the reshuffle, the Nationals now had five members in cabinet, the largest number since the Arthur Fadden government in the 1950s.

He said he was frustrated that people who “live a long, long way away from mines” derided the mining industry, including coalmining, and “expounded myths” about it.

“Thousands of families up there on central Queensland rely on it for their jobs, to pay their mortgage, to put their kids through school, and not enough people in our national commentary reflect that.”

Reappointed veterans affairs minister, Dan Tehan, who became minister for defence personnel and assistant minister for cyber security but lost responsibility for defence materiel, told Radio National that Australia needed to continue to engage with the Islamic community.



Asked about the fact Zed Seselja was the only Liberal conservative promoted in the reshuffle, Tehan said Turnbull had “got the balance right” in picking a team to govern in Australia’s interests.

“What we’ve got to do as a government is get on and implement the agenda we took to the election,” he said.



Tehan said it should try to implement its superannuation policy as is, because that’s what the Coalition took to the election.

Ciobo, who was reappointed as trade, tourism and investment minister, told Sky the government had a “clear mandate”.

He said he would “take a majority, however it is served”, after Labor pulled ahead in the last undecided seat of Herbert by just eight votes. Counting has been completed in the seat, leaving the government with a one-seat majority unless a recount changes the result.

Ciobo said the government was “committed, focused and united on the task that lays ahead of us”. He said he was not concerned that only one Liberal conservative was promoted in the reshuffle.

“There will always be certain people who don’t like some of the decisions that are made ... but unfortunately we need to make decisions in the context of what the nation can afford.”

Ciobo said the government was “pulling in the same direction”.

Asked about conservative MPs loyal to Tony Abbott such as Eric Abetz and Kevin Andrews, he replied: “These are long-serving members of the parliament, who have made a significant contribution and will continue to put forward their two cents’ worth ... [but] as a government, we’re committed to the policies we were elected to implement.”