Emma Husar loves her son.
So, it was as a mum, not the member for Lindsay, she spoke of her disgust and anger that Pauline Hanson had referred to her son, and other children with autism ,as "those others" holding their classmates back from their education.
Ms Husar fairly vibrated with rage as she told reporters Senator Hanson owed an apology to the estimated 164,000 Australians who have autism spectrum disorder.
"Kids like my son Mitch, who's 10 and autistic. And he's been in [a[ mainstream [school] for a few years now, but that wasn't always the case," she said.
"He was diagnosed when he was 18 months, and I was told that he'd never speak; that I should never expect that Mitch could play in a sports team with his age-matched peers, or that he could be included in a mainstream class. But he is – and he does very, very well.
"Senator Hanson's comments yesterday are just like all the other comments that Senator Hanson makes.
"They call on people to be divided, and to segregate those people who are different.
"They call on people who are ill-informed to make uneducated comments like those.
"She owes an apology to every single autistic child in this country; every one of the parents who are like me, because we have got better things to be doing than defending our kids."
Social Services Minister Christian Porter said Senator Hanson's comments were "very wrong".
"I think that when you're an important figure in Parliament, in the Senate, you've got to make sure that you're very well informed about things that you speak about," he told ABC radio."I think one of the descriptions that was provided of Senator Hanson's comments was that they were archaic, and that's absolutely right. They were very unhelpful comments."
Queensland LNP MP Luke Howarth described Senator Hanson's comments as "blunt".
"I'm supportive of children with autism in standard classes," he told Sky News, adding he believed her description of children with autism as being disruptive was irrelevant because all children were capable of misbehaving at times.
"Do you have a special naughty room?" he asked.
"It helps our society if they're around people with disabilities. We need to be able to relate."
Senator Hanson sparked outrage on Wednesday while speaking on the government's education funding bill, which One Nation supports, when she told the Senate she believed children with disabilities should be segregated from mainstream classrooms.
"I think that we have more autistic children, yet we are not providing the special classrooms or the schools for these autistic children," she said.
"When they are available, they are at a huge expense to parents.
"I think we need to take that into consideration. We need to look at this. It is no good saying that we have to allow these kids to feel good about themselves and that we do not want to upset them and make them feel hurt. I understand that, but we have to be realistic at times and consider the impact this is having on other children in the classroom."
Senator Hanson said it was time for the education system to rid itself of "people who want everyone to feel good about themselves".
She was immediately rounded on by Labor and the Greens, with Bill Shorten calling Senator Hanson's speech "heartbreaking and upsetting", and Sarah Hanson-Young labelling it "disgusting".
Crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie said inclusive classrooms taught children more than just what they could find in books.
"They learn compassion. They learn how to deal with these matters. It gives them coping mechanisms for the rest of their lives. Everybody wins out with this," she said.
Ms Husar said she was more concerned with children who may have heard Senator Hanson's comments.
"I've got one thing to say to every single child on the autism spectrum, who is going into a classroom today – whether that is a mainstream class, whether that's a support unit, or whether that's a school with a specific purpose – that you matter - that you can be included, and you ought to be included," she said.
"And that even on the days that are hard – when you're frustrated, and your disability makes you angry – you are still better than she is on her best day."
Senator Hanson has said stories about her speech were "taken out of context".
"Once again, this is the media playing games with One Nation," Senator Hanson said on her Facebook page.
