'What will they cancel next?' Pauline Hanson slams push to change name of Pauls 'Smarter White' milk - after Coon cheese was forced to ditch its name
- Activist Dr Stephen Hagan wants to change the name of Smarter White milk
- Dr Hagan was behind a successful campaign to change name of Coon cheese
- Pauline Hanson has criticised his calls in a sarcastic Facebook post on Thursday
Pauline Hanson has criticised calls to change the name of Pauls 'Smarter White' milk brand because it's offensive to Aboriginal people.
Daily Mail Australia revealed on Monday that Indigenous activist Dr Stephen Hagan wanted the named changed because it suggests 'white people are smarter'.
Dr Hagan was behind a successful campaign to change the name of Coon cheese after the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Canadian dairy giant Saputo agreed to axe the 85-year-old moniker, named after American cheese ripening pioneer Edward William Coon - because of its racist connotations - and is working on a new name.
Pauline Hanson has criticised calls to change the name of 'Smarter White' milk because it offends Aboriginal people. Pictured: Her Facebook post
'Now that the leftists have cancelled cheese and lollies they will be looking for their next target,' wrote Pauline Hanson (pictured)
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson today criticised Dr Hagan in a sarcastic Facebook post.
'Now that the leftists have cancelled cheese and lollies they will be looking for their next target,' she wrote.
'Rumour has it that 'Smarter White Milk' was top of the list but 'Australian White Potatoes' has emerged as a dark horse.
'Which do you think will be next to go, the intolerant lactose or the supremacist spud?
Dr Stephen Hagan, who succeeded in having the Coon cheese brand scrapped, now wants Pauls to rename its Smarter White milk
'If you think there is a third option that deserves to be here feel free to let me know. Remember, there are no stupid suggestions just stupid activists.'
Senator Hanson added a poll so her supporters could vote on which name they think is more likely to be changed.
Smarter White Milk - which she dubbed 'Intolerant Lactose' - received 56 per cent of votes.
Australian White potatoes - which she called 'Supremacist Spuds' - got 44 per cent.
Dr Hagan, a former diplomat and academic, who now works as a social justice consultant, said Pauls's French parent company Lactalis should consider replacing the 'Smarter White' label, which has been used to sell low-fat milk since 2002.
'Aboriginal people are saying that there's an inference that it's for smart, white people, not for smart, black people,' Dr Hagan told Daily Mail Australia.
'There's a lot of Aboriginal people who take offence, who don't drink that milk because of the interference that it's 'smarter white'.'
Dr Hagan said 'these enlightened times' of the Black Lives Matter movement meant a name change was 'worthy of consideration'.
Dr Hagan said the Smarter White brand, which dates back to 2002, was offensive to Aboriginal people because it implied white people were more intelligent
Dr Hagan last month convinced Canadian dairy giant Saputo to axe an 85-year-old moniker, named after American cheese ripening pioneer Edward William Coon, because of its racist connotations
The soy milk drinker said lots of Aboriginal people had raised the matter with him.
'I recall having conversations with people who don't buy that because of the connotation 'white people are smart',' he said.
'A lot of people have raised it with me: they asked the question about the Smarter White milk - 'Why couldn't it just be Smarter Milk? Why does it need to put the 'white' in there?'
'If enough people want to bring it to my attention, I'm happy to write a letter to the owners of Pauls and say, 'Look, will you consider changing the name?'.'
Pauls' French owner Lactalis declined to comment.
'Unfortunately we're unable to make any further comment,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.
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Indigenous Alice Springs town councillor Jacinta Price described the call to rename Smarter White milk as 'utter nonsense'.
'I don't know a single Indigenous Australian who is offended at all by milk being called 'Smarter White',' she told Daily Mail Australia.
'Indigenous Australian have far greater issues to be concerned with than the name of a brand of cheese named after its founder or what's written on a carton of milk.'
Ms Price, who ran as a Country Liberal Party candidate at last year's federal election, said affluent activists 'whose lives are easy' were inventing issues to feel like victims instead of addressing family violence and sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities.
'I'd advise anyone who chooses to be offended by such a ridiculous proposition to assess their priorities,' she said.
'The victim mentality is unhealthy and completely unhelpful in attempting to address the real issues.'
Indigenous Alice Springs town councillor Jacinta Price described the call to rename Smarter White milk as 'utter nonsense'
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