Usman Khawaja takes a brutal swipe at Pauline Hanson with Socceroos joke - as debate over her 'monoculture' claims continues

By NICHOLAS COMINO, POLITICAL REPORTER, AUSTRALIA and ANDREW BROWN FOR AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: 00:22, 24 June 2026 | Updated: 00:23, 24 June 2026 Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja has taken a swipe at Pauline Hanson, suggesting he'd like to see the One Nation leader run out for the Socceroos. The 39-year-old made the playful suggestion during a Q&A at an event hosted by Amazon at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday, appearing alongside fellow cricketer Nathan Lyon. When asked which politician he'd most like to see drafted into a sports team, Khawaja immediately nominated Hanson for Australia's national football side. Asked for his reasoning, he said: 'There would be a lot of drama.' His comment came on the same day Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used the Socceroos' World Cup campaign to reject Hanson's call for Australia to embrace a 'monoculture'. Albanese pointed to the football team as proof of the country's vibrant diversity. 'We have had a rich culture, and when we look at the Socceroos, we see examples of that rich culture, people who are proud of their ethnicity, of who they are, but also who are proud Australians,' he said. 'Modern Australia is not a monoculture, and it never has been. It's really a nonsense argument to go back to a monoculture that was actually never there.' Khawaja (pictured) joked that Pauline Hanson playing for the Socceroos would cause 'drama'  Hanson (pictured) has sparked backlash after calling for Australia to be a 'monoculture' Albanese noted the 26-player line-up includes 15 different cultural backgrounds.  Several players, including Nestory Irankunda and Mohamed Toure, were born overseas or in refugee camps before making Australia their home. Hanson has said her idea of a monocultural Australia does not involve people giving up their heritage. Instead, it focuses on people integrating into Australian society and being subject to the same laws and shared values. 'Nothing would really change, we'd still have our culture, we'd still have our laws,' she told 7News' Sunrise on Tuesday. She said her concerns centred on what she sees as a growing fragmentation of Australian society. 'Do we really want to see Sharia law, do we want to see multiple marriages, do we want to see these gangs sitting around our streets with machetes? That's not the Australian way of life,' she said. 'It's about being united under the one culture, and everyone should be treated the same under one law. I'm not saying forget where you came from or your cultural background by no means.' Albanese (pictured) said the Socceroos were a reason why Australia was not a monoculture  Khawaja, the first Muslim cricketer to represent Australia, has become a prominent advocate for multiculturalism, regularly speaking out against racism and for humanitarian causes. In 2025, he visited Canberra to urge Albanese to take tougher action on the crisis in Gaza, calling for sanctions on Israel and more support for Palestinian statehood. He also weighed in on domestic politics in 2024, condemning the remarks of then-opposition leader Peter Dutton about Muslim candidates in western Sydney. Khawaja's quip about Hanson comes as the Socceroos are caught in a broader political row over what the team represents. Former Labor MP John Kennedy and ex-Greens candidate Hannah Thomas faced backlash after saying One Nation supporters shouldn't celebrate the team's World Cup success because of the players' diversity. After Australia's shock win over Turkey, Kennedy posted on Instagram on the 'hypocrisy' of One Nation voters supporting the Socceroos. '18 players with direct immigrant or refugee heritage. Over 15 different ethnic backgrounds. Four players born in or raised in refugee camps. 3 players born outside Aus,' he said. 'If you support One Nation, then don't support the Socceroos. Just be a racist, not a racist hypocrite.' Thomas claimed that One Nation 'would deport half the Socceroos and defund SBS so we couldn't even watch them'. Their comments sparked criticism from One Nation members and supporters, who pointed out the party has growing support in some migrant communities. 'I would suggest that every person in Australia at some stage has immigrant blood in them,' One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said. The Socceroos have proudly showcased their multicultural roots on social media, with players sharing personal journeys from countries such as Scotland, Italy, Croatia, Guinea, Belgium, Tanzania and Kenya. Ahead of the World Cup, the team released a video where players spoke about their family histories and what it means to represent a diverse Australia. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. 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