The Morrison government's leader in the Senate has issued an embarrassing apology, claiming his team of government senators only supported a One Nation motion saying it was "okay to be white" because of an "administrative error".
Finance minister Mathias Cormann said the failure was with the government's internal process for letting senators know how they should vote on the bills of the day.
"There is a process involved in determining the position of the government in relation to 50 to 60 motions a week," Senator Cormann told reporters at Parliament House on Tuesday.
"Yesterday, as a result of an administrative process failure, the government senators in the chamber ended up, on advice, voting in support of the motion," he said.
"As leader of the government in the Senate, I take responsibility for that error and I'm sorry that that happened. It is indeed regrettable."
Back in the September sitting of parliament, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson moved a motion imploring the Senate to acknowledge that "it is okay to be white" and "the deplorable rise of anti-white racism".
Senator Cormann said the government made a decision to oppose the motion and instead issue a statement that it deplored racism in all forms.
But when the motion returned for a vote this week, government senators voted with One Nation. Nonetheless, it was defeated by Labor, the Greens and the crossbench on Monday afternoon in a narrow vote: 31 votes to 28.
The One Nation leader moved a motion imploring the Senate to acknowledge that "it is okay to be white" and "the deplorable rise of anti-white racism".
"It is indeed okay to be white. Such a simple sentence should go without saying but I suspect many members in this place would struggle to say it," Senator Hanson told the Senate.
"People have a right to be proud of their cultural background whether they're black, white or brindle."
Coalition senators supported Senator Hanson's motion, as well as crossbench senators Peter Georgiou, Cory Bernardi, David Leyonhjelm and Fraser Anning.
Fraser Anning was roundly criticised in August for calling for a ban on Muslim migration and a 'final solution' to Australia's immigration.
But other senators denounced her motion.
Independent senator Derryn Hinch labelled it "obscene".
"I'm starting to think Senator Hanson and her former colleague Senator Anning are now locked in a race to see who can be the biggest, the loudest racist bigot," Senator Hinch said.
Labor and the Greens combined with several crossbenchers to oppose the motion.
"It's not just okay to be white in Australia, it's actually a ticket to winning the lotto," Greens leader Richard Di Natale said.
"This 'It's okay to be white' slogan has got a long history in the white supremacist movement where both these clowns get most of their material from."
