PM, Coalition and crossbench support Jacqui Lambie after Pauline Hanson cartoon mocked vaginal prolapse

Anthony Albanese has praised the courage of Jacqui Lambie in speaking out about her struggles with vaginal prolapse, as politicians from across the spectrum condemn a One Nation cartoon.

The latest cartoon, part of Pauline Hanson’s Please Explain series, depicts the army veteran as saying “I can’t laugh because of my prolapsed vagina,” before adding a crude sound effect ridiculing the health condition.

Responding to the cartoon on Monday, the Tasmanian senator said going public with her condition didn’t make her health “fair game”.

“Speaking openly is not an invitation to be mocked or degraded,” she said in a statement.

“By making this cartoon, One Nation didn’t just make light of my own medical struggles, but those of so many other women who have experienced reproductive health issues.”

The prime minister joined independent senator David Pocock in leaving messages of support in the comments section of Lambie’s statement posted to Instagram.

“Thank you for your courage which will help others #respect,” Albanese wrote.

In an emotional address in the upper house in August, the independent senator spoke of her own struggles with the women’s health issue and the lack of access to care faced by other female veterans.

Speaking in Tasmania, the One Nation leader said the cartoon might have brought awareness to the condition.

“Jacqui Lambie, get over it … it is actually satirical, and I think she’s taken a heart in which she shouldn’t be,” Hanson said.

“Have a good look at it, have have a bit of a laugh, Jackie, and lighten up.”

Industry Minister Tim Ayres lashed the “nasty style of politics” he described as imported.

“There’s tens of thousands of Australian women who battle with health conditions like this one or others, and they don’t deserve to be smashed up by some cheap, nasty bit of political propaganda run out of Pauline Hanson’s office,” he told Nine’s Today Show.

Shadow Minister for Small Business Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said the health condition should not be made light of.

“I don’t like women being ridiculed for very personal issues such as that, and being mocked and played down, and certainly not leaders in our country, for that to happen too,” she told News24.

“When it comes to the world of politics, we need to play the ball, not the person.”

Earlier, Lambie said “decent leaders don’t stir up hatred, pushing us towards bloody anarchy”.

“If you think it’s a laughable matter about women having problems with their reproductive system then you be my guest, and you stand by her [Hanson]. But seriously, enough is enough,” she told ABC’s RN.

Independent Victorian MP Monique Ryan condemned the cartoon on Sunday, saying Lambie had shown “courage and honesty in speaking of her experience of vaginal prolapse”.

“Pelvic organ prolapse – bladder or vaginal – affects about 1 in 12 Australian women. It’s often linked to physical strain, heavy lifting or past childbirth. It’s uncomfortable and debilitating.”

The cartoon also doubles down on claiming Liberal MP and former special forces soldier Andrew Hastie is a “traitor”, which portrays him as believing his veteran status should exempt him from criticism.

“Traitor, a traitor? But I’m a veteran,” his character in the cartoon says.

Hastie, who also served in Afghanistan with the elite SAS regiment, has been attacked by One Nation for testifying during the defamation trial of accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith.

The Victoria Cross recipient has been charged over five alleged murders involving unarmed detainees during his deployment in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

Roberts-Smith denies the allegations.