Aussies have turned against Robert Irwin after he threatened legal action over a satirical One Nation cartoon used to criticise the Queensland government.
Pauline Hanson‘s ‘Please Explain’ animated video series featured a likeness of the youngest Irwin alongside famous cartoon dog Bluey in its latest episode on Friday.
The episode, titled ‘The State of Queensland’, satirically depicted Irwin and Bluey exploring the Sunshine Sate after the pair were unveiled as the faces of its new tourism campaign.
Hours after the video was published, FC Lawyers on behalf of Irwin sent a cease and desist letter to StepMates Studios, the series’ production team.
Ms Hanson fired back at Irwin telling him to ‘lighten up’, questioning how the cartoon could defame the wildlife celebrity.
Ordinary Aussies are weighing in with some calling Irwin a ‘sook’ who needs to ‘grow up’, while some have defended him and condemned Ms Hanson.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has clapped back at Robert Irwin after he sent the party a cease and desist over its latest episode of ‘Please Explain’
‘Your dad would [have] had a good laugh at Pauline’s cartoon. Grow up, stop being a snowflake!’ one person said.
‘I can’t believe Robert Irwin is threatening One Nation with legal action over a (fabulous) satirical cartoon. How pathetic and un-Australian. Grow a sense of humour, mate,’ wrote another.
‘Robert Irwin is very thin skinned he needs a laugh,’ a third person commented.
‘Robert Irwin doesn’t appear to have thought this through. By taking action, he has not only started trending on X, but so many more people have now seen the video than might have otherwise,’ one more wrote.
Others took aim at Ms Hanson and defended Irwin.
‘It is Pauline Hanson who is the politician and she has a record of trying to sue others when offended,’ one wrote.
‘She likes to dish it out but can’t take it which will cost her at the ballot box!’
Another added: ‘What about when Pauline Hanson threatened legal action over Pauline Pantsdown.’
The two minute video uses Irwin to criticise the state government over the hospital system, roads, transport, sustainable energy, the housing crisis and youth crime.
Ms Hanson questioned how her cartoon defamed Irwin and insisted that he should find it funny.
‘Lighten up mate, your father was a larrikin, an icon to Australia and the world and he would have had a good laugh,’ she told Adelaide Now.
The firebrand senator’s Youtube series featured an episode on Friday where Irwin and the ABC children’s cartoon character Bluey are satirically depicted (pictured)
The Queensland government weighed in on the dilemma on Sunday.
Transport minister Bart Mellish slammed the video, saying Ms Hanson used Queensland icons ‘to try and sell a bit of a mean-spirited and a bit racist political message’.
‘I love political satire, but the main thing about satire is it’s actually got to be funny,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Mellish said the video ‘was designed to get a response’ but he couldn’t see the point, other than to ‘divide people’.
‘I’m a father of two young boys they love watching Bluey every day, I don’t think they would like to see Bluey in a Pauline Hanson video,’ he said.
Opposition leader David Crisafulli called on everyone involved in the scandal to sort it out.
‘I’m not a big fan of censoring cartoons, but I would like to see them try to work it out, he said.
Irwin (pictured) sent legal letters to the production company behind Pauline Hanson’s cartoon within hours of its upload
Ms Hanson said One Nation intends to fight the lawsuit because the cartoon was not even about Irwin in the first place.
‘How is he going to argue defamation? It’s not about him it’s about the issues in Queensland,’ she said.
She also implied that he should be thankful to get make an appearance on the surprisingly popular web series.
‘I’ve got members of parliament asking me when they get to be in the cartoon, we have people pay to get in it, so I’ve given him a free kick,’ she said.
‘And [Irwin] wants to sue me over it.’
One Nation’s chief of staff James Ashby also confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that the party would oppose the contents of the letter and have brought in defamation expert Sue Chrysanthou SC.
The letter from FC Lawyers’ Zoe Naylor to the animation studio’s founders, Mark Nicholson and Sebastian Peart, said their depiction of Irwin ‘constitutes defamation’.
Ms Hanson told Irwin to lighten up and take the matter as a joke like his father, legendary conservationist Steve Irwin, would have
Adding that the cartoon was an ‘unauthorised and deceptive use of our client’s image’, Ms Naylor demanded the studio remove the video from all platforms.
In the episode, the enthusiastic Irwin character attempts to show Bluey all the positive things the Sunshine State has to offer.
But the pair are met with the very same problems residents there are struggling with everyday.
The duo at one point mistake a long queue at the famed Movie World theme park for a rental inspection, highlighting Queensland’s dire housing crisis.
They are also targeted by foul-mouthed delinquents who steal their vehicle and ‘bash’ Bluey.
When he is taken to hospital, they are told it will be a ‘six-month’ wait.
The episode ends with a downbeat Irwin, saying ‘I can’t believe this is the state of Queensland’.
Ms Hanson and One Nation chief of staff, James Ashby, told the younger Irwin to be more like his dad Steve who they claim ‘would have had a good laugh’ at the cartoon
The letter from Ms Naylor claims the cartoon ‘not only tarnished our client’s reputation but also misled the public, causing significant harm to our client’s brand and image’.
‘The unauthorised use of our client’s image in this context is particularly egregious, as it manipulates the truth and misrepresents our client’s personality, values, and beliefs.’
The lawyer demanded StepMates Studios to take down the cartoon from all social media platforms and elsewhere online.
Ms Naylor also ordered them to no longer portray Irwin in the future without permission.
They have until 5pm on Monday to meet the demands or the firm may escalate the issue to the Federal Court.